The Man in the Long Black Coat
by CrackedFic
Summary: "Why'd you have to kill him?" she screamed. "What did he ever do to you?" The man scooped her into his arms and headed for the door. "I killed him," he said, "because I was hungry." AU/Vampward
1. Chapter 1

**As you know, Stephenie Meyer owns the characters in this story. I'm just playing with them for a while.**

**AU, rated M for violence and dark themes.**

**A/N This story came to me in a flash when I listened to Joan Osborne's version of "Man in the Long Black Coat," one of my favorite songs. Y'all should give it a listen. There's an acoustic version on youtube that's especially beautiful.**

NNN

The man in the long black coat arrived in town at midnight. He drove no car, rode no motorcycle. He walked down the middle of the two-lane highway, his pace neither fast nor slow. Black steel-toed boots followed one another on the double-yellow line, a metronome in motion.

He carried himself like a man without concern, his shoulders square and his jaw set tight. His disheveled, copper-colored hair looked as if it had always been as it was right then. It seemed like someone had quickly pushed it back with fingers eons ago, and it remained that way because it made sense for it to do so. His long sideburns blended casually into the three-day beard he wore, which had the effect of darkening his pale skin. His deep-set eyes reflected the moonlight. They appeared to be devoid of color. The pupils and the irises were one black mass.

When he arrived at the crossroads, he did not hesitate. He stayed on the yellow line and took the road that forked left as if that were the path he had been aiming for all along, as if destiny had brought him there.

The man paused as a police cruiser approached. He lit a cigarette and quickly moved to the side of the road. He pulled his collar up high to ward off the cold and ducked his head down to ward off unwanted attention. The cruiser slowed, its headlights briefly catching a deep scar that gouged the man's cheek. The man lifted his eyes, but not his head. He looked at the driver, a middle-aged man with dark hair and a mustache to match. He wore a police uniform, a badge secured to the front.

The officer nodded at the man in the long black coat, and the man nodded back, knowing from the officer's thoughts that he harbored no ill will. He held no suspicions. The man allowed the officer to be on his way.

The man kept his pace. The police cruiser made one turn, and then another, leaving him be. He stubbed his cigarette out on the bottom of his boot and placed the butt into his coat pocket as he continued down the road.

A gas station lay ahead, its harsh fluorescent lights turning everything around it a cool shade of blue. When he arrived at the edge of its parking lot, the man stopped, noticing the lot was empty but for a green mid-1990s Toyota Tercel. He pulled his hands from his pockets. He gritted his teeth and opened the front door.

"Can I help ya find something?"

The young man at the counter wore khaki pants and a denim button-down with the gas station's logo embroidered above the right breast pocket. His name, "Mike," was printed on a name tag that was affixed above the left breast pocket. He wore a matching baseball cap and his blond hair spilled haphazardly out from beneath it, over his ears.

The man in the long black coat said nothing. He smelled burnt coffee and the cheap cologne the boy at the counter wore, but nothing else, no one else. That no one else was here was good for the man in the long black coat, but bad for Mike. The man turned around and locked the gas station's double doors. He pulled a two-foot length of chain from his coat pocket and wrapped it around the handles of both doors, securing it with a twist that bent the metal at the ends of the chain.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" The boy behind the counter reached for the phone, but the man in the long black coat was already there.

He calmly pulled the phone's cord from the wall. He reached into the rear pocket of the boy's khakis and removed his cellular phone. He crushed it in one hand as the boy backed up against the wall.

"Take what you want, dude. I won't stop you. I won't even tell anyone you were here. I swear."

The barest hint of a smirk tweaked the corners of the man's mouth as he moved, very quickly, violently stirring the air behind the counter so that a wake of dust swirled behind him.

"The video system." He raised his eyebrows at the clerk named Mike. Mike's thoughts were confused. He was too frightened to think clearly, the man realized. Mike's mind jumped around; homework, his mom, his boss. He was worried about a term paper that was due at the end of the week but which he had not started yet. The man put his hand on Mike's shoulder, squeezing until he heard the crunch of bones. Mike's thoughts ceased at once as he screamed and crumpled to the ground.

"Where. Do. You. Keep. The. Security. Video?" The man spoke slowly, knowing the boy was traumatized.

"There is no system. It's just the camera right here" - the boy pointed above the counter, at a small camera facing down - "and the laptop over there." The man could tell that mike was being truthful, his thoughts focused only on the jerry-rigged security system.

The man jumped onto the counter and removed the camera with a firm pull. He jumped back down, pulled cords from the laptop, and folded it closed. He turned to Mike, who lay squirming on the ground.

The man bared his teeth. He reached for the boy, who had backed himself into a corner. The man gripped the boy's neck with one hand, lifting him from the ground. He pulled him close and sunk his teeth into the boy's carotid artery. The blood geisered. It ran from the corners of the man's mouth, dripped off his chin. He clamped his lips more tightly to the boy's skin. His Adam's apple bobbed up and down as he gulped heavily and moaned with pleasure.

He was so focused that he did not hear the old pickup pull into a spot outside. Nor did he notice the rattle of the door, the jangle of the chain, the sound of clenched fists banging on the glass. He kept his eyes closed as he drained the clerk dry, careful not to spill any blood onto the floor. That would be a waste of a precious resource.

When he had finished, a sense of euphoria overtook him, as it always did. It was as if the outside world did not exist, as if the thoughts of others could not invade his mind. There was only him and the blood; everything else be damned. He savored that moment, licked his lips. He used his finger to scrape away blood that had run down his neck, then put the finger in his mouth, sucking until it was clean.

Slowly, he came down from his high. He began to feel the warm air again, sense the light in the room. He heard banging. Opened his eyes. The banging grew louder. It was joined by a voice. A girl's voice.

"Mike! Mike! Open the door. What's going on?"

He looked up from behind the counter. A girl, seventeen or eighteen. Mike's girlfriend, perhaps. He would read her thoughts to find out before he dispatched her as well. He rarely took two meals in such close succession, but sometimes he had no choice.

A puzzled look crossed his face when he realized that she had no thoughts that he could read. She screamed for Mike, sounding more and more panicked as she yanked harder in the door.

"That's impossible," the man in the long black coat mumbled, unaware that he had spoken aloud.

The girl suddenly stopped banging on the door and screamed loudly, knocking the man from his temporary gaze. He rushed to the door, ripped the chain away, and pulled the girl inside. He nearly passed out at the smell of her, at once alluring and revolting. He could taste her now, before he had taken a bite. Her smell was that powerful, that alluring.

She struggled to get free of his grasp, successfully freeing her right arm. She slashed at him, digging her nails into his cheek. He did not react, he was so stunned by her presence. He continued trying to read her mind, becoming more and more frustrated by the moment.

"What are you?"

"Fuck you, you piece of shit. Let me go and tell me where Mike is!"

He released his grip, fighting the urge to sink his teeth in. He could not kill this human, not yet. Not until he found out why she drew him in so strongly ... and why he could not read her mind.

"Mike is dead. His corpse is behind the counter. If you'd rather not end up the same way, I suggest you come with me quietly."

"What? He's dead? Holy shit! Why'd you do that? I mean, what did he ever do to you? Why'd you have to kill him?"

The man scooped her into his arms, despite her protests. He grabbed the laptop from the counter and headed for the door, the girl slung over his shoulder. He removed the chain and placed it back into the pocket of his long black coat.

"I killed him," he said, "because I was hungry."

-30-


	2. Chapter 2

The man in the long black coat was tiring of the girl's screams. Her shrill voice grated on him as he loaded her into the faded red pickup truck she had parked outside. He had no idea what he was going to do with her, but he knew he had to do something. He had to own her, had to discover her secret.

"You would be better off if you accepted your fate," he told her. "Your screaming does nothing but cause trouble."

He looked into her eyes, deep pools of chocolate brown that reflected the moonlight. Once again, he found himself thinking of the blood that ran through her veins. Its sweet aroma nearly overpowered him. If he had known such blood existed, he would have sought it out decades ago. He would have dedicated his very existence to finding it and consuming it.

"I will not shut up, _asshole_." She screamed again and struggled to get free, momentarily breaking his concentration. "Help! Someone help me!"

Though it was late at night and the gas station was far from any activity, he didn't want to take a chance that her screaming would attract attention. He quickly closed his hands around her neck, blocking the flow of precious blood to her brain. She struggled, but the man was too strong. His hands were as hard as marble, his muscles strengthened by his condition, his will driven by the uncontrollable craving.

The girl ceased her struggles, choking one last time before she lost consciousness. He laid her limp body across the truck's bench seat and slid her in the rest of the way. Her long hair spilled across her face, its dark color contrasting with her white skin.

She was, he acknowledged, quite beautiful. Though ordinary looking by most standards, she had a face that he found _interesting_. There was no better word for it. Her full cheekbones contrasted with the sharpness of her narrow chin. She wore no makeup, but her lips shone a shade of pink that caused them to appear fuller than they were against her white skin. And her eyes, those deep brown eyes. They enraptured him.

He moved his focus from her face to her neck, so inviting. He watched her blood pulse through the arteries, a steady rhythm, causing her skin to rise and fall. It was mesmerizing.

The man knew he must move on. He began to fish through her pockets for the keys to the truck and her cell phone. He felt the warmth of her body through the fabric and paused involuntarily, one hand in her pocket and the other on the steering wheel. He felt her blood pumping through her hip, the iliac artery one of the human body's largest. He closed his eyes, imagining his mouth on her naked body, his teeth piercing the nearly translucent skin at the V where her leg met her lower abdomen. He could almost feel the hot blood run across his tongue, down his throat, pulsing now against his fingers as he slid them further into the girl's pocket. He pictured the scene so vividly it was almost real.

His fingers brushed against the keys, breaking his train of thought. He blinked and sucked in a breath, a habit that would always be hard-wired into his brain, no matter how unnecessary it had become. He took the keys from her pocket and placed them in his own. He found her phone in her rear pocket, and he took that too.

Knowing from experience that the girl would be out for some time, he returned to the store to retrieve the corpse he had left behind. He didn't want to leave evidence of his crimes, though it wasn't the police he was worried about.

He wiped the counter clean, paying particular attention to any spots he might have touched, including where the camera had been. He retrieved the broken pieces of the clerk's cell phone from the floor and placed them in the pockets of his coat. He removed the cash from the register and lit a cigarette. That should help cover the smell of blood. He didn't expect trouble, but he knew it never hurt to be careful.

The clerk, Mike, lay where he'd been left, slumped against the wall in a corner. Though the man had drained the boy, a trickle of blood ran from the holes he'd left behind. The blood had darkened, pooling in the crook of the boy's neck, where his head was bent at an awkward angle.

The man wiped the blood with his finger, again sucking it dry. He stubbed out his cigarette, again placing the butt in his pocket. He picked up the clerk's body, careful to avoid dripping more blood on the floor. To the authorities - or anyone else who came to look - it would appear that Mike the clerk had simply vanished, taking the laptop with him. That there might be no logical explanation for such a disappearance didn't matter.

He placed the corpse into the bed of the girl's pickup and scanned the area. No one was around. That was good. He would drive the truck into the woods and dispose of the body there. He'd decide what to do with the girl later.

The driver's side door squeaked so loudly when he opened it that it resembled a moan, as if the truck knew what it was being used for and issued a meek protest.

When he looked inside, the girl was gone.

"Fuck."

He ran a hand through his hair and breathed out heavily, scanning the area again. He sensed no movement, detected no thoughts.

Trying to think like a human, he wondered which way she'd travel. Certainly, she was on foot. Her truck was still here, and she had no phone. Dense forest surrounded the gas station on both sides and its rear. She would not go in there at night, no matter how afraid, no matter how desperate. He knew that much about human teenage girls.

Which left two directions, both of them along the roadway he'd walked in on.

He lifted his head high, forced his nostrils open, and breathed in deeply.

There it was. That smell. The sweet aroma of the girl. It was weak, but he knew it was there. She had gone in the direction from which he'd come.

He started the truck, intending to chase her down, but quickly pulled it around the side of the building when he sensed someone coming. He saw headlights. A small European sports car, perhaps a Volvo, pulled into the lot. In addition to the driver, another teenage girl, there appeared to be two more people in the car. A couple, it seemed. All friends of Mike the clerk, he assumed.

The man had to make a decision: Kill everyone in the car immediately and leave town, or get out of there before they saw him. He scanned their thoughts to be sure they hadn't seen him.

From the driver: "It's so weird that Mike hasn't answered my texts. The stupid jerk probably forgot his phone again."

From the front passenger, another girl: "Gah. Jessica is such a slut. Dragging me and Eric out here to see Mike again? I am so sick of it."

And the rear passenger, a boy: "I hope Mike will sell us beer this time. Little fucker never lets us."

Satisfied that their thoughts were those of typical teenagers, the man in the long black coat drove into the roadway. An oncoming car forced him to turn away from the direction the girl had gone. He didn't want to chance anyone seeing him.

He turned right, toward the small town's business district. In the distance, flashing blue and red lights. The teenagers must have already gone into the store and discovered that their friend was missing. They'd dialed 911 that quickly.

The man eased his foot onto the gas pedal, pressing it further down, slowly building up speed. There was no need to rush. No one would be looking for him.

Before the police car got too close, he made a left turn, and another left. At this late hour, the small town was nearly deserted. Only the gas station by the highway was open. It had begun to drizzle, and the streets were covered in a fine mist. It built up on the truck's windshield, so he turned the wipers on. They smeared the window.

He pulled the pickup into a deserted strip mall parking lot, stopped and got out. He pulled a dirty towel from the floorboard and wiped the window down. He knew that the girl who'd escaped would report what had happened soon, if she hadn't already. He would have to abandon the truck after he disposed of the clerk's body.

As soon as he searched the glove box. He tossed much of what he found onto the floor: photographs, CDs, an overdue homework assignment. Soon, he found the registration receipt and scanned it quickly.

"Isabella Swan," he said, his smile growing. "Such a beautiful name."

He put the truck into gear and headed for the woods.

-30-

**A/N Thanks so much for the response to chapter one. I'm thrilled that people like it. I hope to update every week or two, though the holidays may slow me down. And don't worry. I'm not going to abandon this midway through. I've got much of it mapped out in my head already. All I have to do is write it down. ;)**

**A major shout-out to my wife and beta, MazzyStarla, a damn good editor and a fine writer herself. Do yourself a favor and go read her stuff. It's much sweeter than mine.**


	3. Chapter 3

There was a rawness to the way she moved, as if the world were trying to pin her arms down and she had grown used to fighting it. She reached up, wrenched her hair into pile, and clipped it there.

She wore blue jeans with a hole in one knee and frayed ends that hung across her bare feet. The jeans sat low on her hips, exposing two inches of pale skin. An unbuttoned white blouse covered a gray T-shirt that clung to her body. The man in the long black coat watched. It was the first time he'd noticed the scars that marked her arms and disappeared into the darkness. They piqued his curiosity.

She put a cigarette to her lips, pulled a plastic lighter from her pocket. She walked to the edge of the balcony, which was off the back of the house she shared with her father, a rustic two-story on the edge of town. It rested up against an expanse of woods that ran all the way to Canada. She stroked the lighter with her thumb, the rope-like muscles in her forearms tensing with the movement as she sparked a flame. She blew a heavy stream of smoke into the foggy air, put her elbows on the railing and leaned forward.

He watched from the woods. Three days and nights now, watching, wondering. It was frustrating. It was enrapturing.

Isabella Swan. He rolled the name over his tongue and listened as the sound floated away, swallowed by the woods that surrounded him.

He thought of his own name, Edward Masen, a name he had not uttered in decades. He had long ago given up the need for names. He occasionally used one for pleasure, though never his real one. Edward had spent decades wandering the nation's roadways, picking off select victims in select towns for a few weeks or a few months and moving on. He had come to believe the world was his playground, and he treated it as such. He had learned the hard way that this was his nature now; he had no choice but to follow it.

What he wanted, he took. When he was hungry, he fed. If his targeted victim was in the public, he would charm her until he got her alone. The need for a name would sometimes arise, but it would go away as soon as he'd taken what he needed.

But this. This girl. This Bella Swan, as her father thought of her. She confounded him.

He'd parked her truck in the mud beside her driveway, abandoned it there three days ago after disposing of the clerk's body. He had not left the spot he found in the woods since.

Her thoughts remained her own, but her father's were easily captured. Charlie Swan, the same cop Edward had seen on his way into town, was the police chief of Forks, Washington. He commanded a small force in a small town, and he believed the job agreed with him.

But with his daughter, Charlie Swan was frustrated.

She had had no visitors in the three days since she escaped from Edward, nor had she told anyone what happened. The town had launched a massive search for the missing clerk, Mike Newton, but still Bella remained silent. That puzzled Edward. She had seemed upset when she found out the boy was dead. What was it with this girl?

Edward knew he was risking his own safety by staying there. He needed to feed. He needed to remain alone, hidden. There were forces more powerful than him in the world, and he had spent decades avoiding them by doing precisely that: remaining alone.

When troubles arose, as they sometimes did, he was an expert at avoiding them, using his mind-reading power to stay one step ahead. A governing coven, the Volturi, enforced the law among vampires. The only law that mattered was absolute secrecy. All the laws were meant to support this one. Vampires were forbidden from revealing themselves to humans, either purposely or accidentally. This included keeping hunts as inconspicuous as possible. Only foolish vampires crossed the Volturi.

Edward wasn't foolish. The Volturi were always in the back of his mind. Though he didn't always follow their rules, he was a careful hunter when he could be, and he'd become quite good at covering his tracks when he couldn't afford to be careful. Sometimes, humans had to be slaughtered, whether or not clues were left behind.

His habits occasionally required him to adopt an identity for a while, perhaps to ingratiate himself to a new victim, to blend in if he were in a large city where he might stay for months.

But, after his encounter with Bella, he found himself considering what name to use should he find that he wanted to stay in this new town. He favored the Pacific Northwest in the summer for its cloud cover. It allowed him to move about in the daytime more often than he could otherwise. His condition forced him to wear the coat, and it was easier to explain in the summer than it would be in a warmer climate. Even the faintest sunlight would make his skin shimmer unnaturally. It would call attention to him.

What's more, he realized that, although he'd arrived in town with the intention of feeding for a few weeks and moving on, he was now thinking of Forks as a possible long-term home. He might rent an apartment, he thought, keep his hunting down to a human every couple of weeks. He could do that. He had not had a home since before he was turned, and the thought stirred something dark that had long been hidden inside him.

He shook off the memories and smiled at his own ridiculousness. He would not stay. He would not need a name. He would talk to no one but his victims, his meals, and there wouldn't be a need to tell them who he was before he took what he wanted and slaughtered them.

I will use my birth name, he decided. It's a fine name. A bit old fashioned, but it seemed, somehow, appropriate. He hadn't used it in ages and thought himself ridiculous for avoiding it.

No. He resolved that he wouldn't go after the Swan girl. Therein lay danger. Fervor breeds carelessness. Carelessness can get you burned. Edward was anything but careless. But ... it wouldn't hurt to watch. To learn. From a distance. She was a curiosity to him. He had never before met anyone whose thoughts he could not read. Even in life, he had earned something of a reputation for being able to read people well. Becoming a vampire had strengthened this skill beyond any human measure.

But there was more than that. Bella Swan was not just a mere curiosity. Her smell was overpowering. Her ability to resist him and escape was unprecedented. Never before had he lost a meal. Never before had he wanted one so badly.

He continued watching her there on the balcony. She hugged herself, as if a chill had come over her. When she lifted her head again, he could swear she looked directly at him. That was impossible, but it seemed true. Edward was concerned that he _wanted_ it to be true.

One corner of her mouth seemed to lift ever so slightly, and she appeared to speak. To whom she might be speaking was a mystery, as her father had gone to bed a half hour earlier. Even so, Edward probed Charlie's mind, assuring himself that he was asleep.

Edward had learned much from Charlie already. Bella came to live with him just before her senior year of high school. She'd lived with her mother in Arizona since the divorce, some years before. But Charlie didn't dwell on the details, so Edward was uncertain what had drawn her to Forks. He knew that once she arrived, she began to stay out late. She came home drunk or stoned more than once, and threatened to run away. Charlie suspected she was in trouble, but he didn't know how to approach her.

She and Charlie hardly spoke. He longed for a relationship with her, but he didn't know how to express it. He had no experience with teenage girls, and she had no experience with a father.

They drew apart. Though thoughts of Bella occupied Charlie's mind all the time, he didn't know what to do. Bella spoke to no one. She appeared to have no friends.

And now Charlie was worried. He suspected that Bella knew more than she was admitting about Mike's disappearance.

Edward watched now as Bella continued talking. He listened closely. His hearing was impeccable, even at this distance.

"God, Bella. Get over yourself," she whispered. "Nobody gives a shit what you think, anyway."

Oh, he realized. She must be talking to herself. He shook his head in defeat, disgusted with himself and his inability to read her, disgusted with his need to do so. At the same time, this new environment intrigued him. He had grown so used to reading people that being forced to figure things out on his own gave him, he hated to admit, a thrill.

He lit another cigarette and dug his hands into his pockets. He ground his heel into the dirt and scowled.

Bella finished her cigarette. She flicked the butt over the side of the balcony and walked back inside. She left the sliding glass door open a few inches, perhaps to let some cool air in.

Edward gave in to his hunger and fed on two rabbits, an unsatisfying but necessary departure from his norm. There was nothing essentially wrong with animal blood. It did keep his kind nourished. He had met entire clans that sympathized with humans and subsisted entirely on animal blood. He was disgusted by such creatures and considered the vampires who lived that way traitors to their nature. He reveled in his true nature, not only because of the pleasure he derived from letting his monster out, but also because there was nothing in the world quite like the rush that human blood provided.

He had come to believe that creatures like him were created to gorge on human blood, as a virus is meant to infect, or a fish meant to swim. By killing, he was fulfilling his destiny.

This girl, Bella Swan, seemed to be proof of that. Why would such a specimen exist, after all, if she were not meant to be devoured?

Edward wiped the blood from his mouth and headed toward her house. With the door left open, it should be easy to get inside.

-30-

**A/N You guys are so cool. Thanks for the follows and reviews and whatnot. I am sooo excited about where this story's heading. I wish I could write faster. I have so much awesometastic stuff planned I need to get it out of my head and onto the page. If only real life didn't get in the way. ;) Anyway, I'll see you around here again in a week or two.**


	4. Chapter 4

Edward stepped over a tombstone, grayed with time. He leaned against a tree and took refuge in the shadows as he surveyed the crowd across the street. Church on a Sunday morning. The last place he wanted to be.

Except there she was. Bella Swan. She dragged her frayed black Converse across the dusty sidewalk, ten paces behind her father as he gladhanded the locals. Sunglasses blocked Edward's view of her eyes, and her hair hung down in her face, but it was unmistakably her. She kept her head bowed as she walked and, despite the warmth, long sleeves covered her arms.

She did not look up as she passed him, and no one else seemed to notice the dark stranger in their midst as they filed inside like sheep headed for slaughter.

He shook his head at the folly of humans. They were there to pray for the missing clerk, Mike Newton, as if their prayers would make a difference. Prayers were for the weak. Religion was for the weak. Belief was for the weak.

Edward believed in nothing save himself.

He waited until the crowd had filed inside, took a spot at the back, standing behind the last pew with his arms folded across his chest. He kept his head down and scanned the minds nearest him. No different from those in any other crowd he'd been unfortunate enough to be a part of. Consumed with the worries of the day, consumed with their pathetic lives, as if any of it mattered.

Bella sat near the front, three rows back. She'd removed her sunglasses, but her dark hair still covered half her face, making it impossible to see any expression she wore. Edward grew more frustrated at his inability to read her.

He was nearly consumed with his desire to get closer to her, to inhale her scent, to touch her smooth skin once again and feel her warm blood pulse through her body. She slouched in her seat, her legs crossed at the ankles and her eyes seemingly focused on nothing at all. She ran her teeth across her bottom lip and stared straight ahead, as if she were pondering the textured pattern on the walls.

Edward felt himself inching forward involuntarily as the preacher approached the pulpit.

To distract himself, Edward began to read the people seated near Bella. Charlie, to her right, was, as always, worried about his little girl. To her left, an elderly woman considered Bella with scorn, judging her for her dress, judging her for her unkempt hair and the heavy black makeup around her eyes. She judged Charlie, too, for his parenting skills. Bella had earned a reputation as something of a misfit and a troublemaker. That did not reflect well on the town's police chief.

Edward was surprised to find that he harbored ill thoughts about the old woman. Why should he care what some random stranger thought of Charlie? Or of Bella, for that matter?

He shook his head, angry with himself.

The teenagers mostly kept to themselves, separated and off to one side. They thought about Mike Newton. That he had probably run away. That he had gone out partying in the woods and gotten lost, perhaps becoming a victim to a pack of wolves. Some thought he was pulling a prank, that he'd show up out of the blue one day with a smirk and a story.

One girl, who Edward thought might be the driver from the other night outside the convenience store, focused her attention on Bella. "I'll bet she knows what happened," the girl thought, looking at Bella with her brows furrowed. "She's been nothing but trouble since she showed up here. I wish it was her who disappeared."

Again, Edward found himself getting agitated. He had an urge to defend Bella to this stranger, and this was a great surprise to him. He hadn't felt the need to defend a woman since the night he lost everything, nearly a hundred years earlier.

Suddenly, a voice bellowed and the crowd hushed, caught by surprise.

"And God saw that the _wickedness _of man was great in the Earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."

The preacher looked upon his flock, waiting for a response he knew he wouldn't get. He breathed deeply, sighed with exaggerated melancholy.

"Genesis 6:5, my friends. God saw what he'd created, and he regretted it."

He scanned his people one by one. A minute went by. Two. People began to grow uncomfortable. They fidgeted in their seats. They smoothed their hands over their pants. They looked away, as if distracted by the sound of a passing car, the chirping of a songbird, anything that would change the subject.

It was all Edward could do not to smile. He had heard this before, the doctrine of Original Sin. He knew it to be true. He had seen too much to believe man's heart was anything but black and cold.

He looked at Bella, who continued staring off into space.

The preacher, too, settled his gaze on her.

"The world is a terrible place, and there is salvation only through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior," the preacher said. "We are all sinners. Even I. Even you."

He began to pace the stage, whipping a sheaf of papers in the air to punctuate each syllable.

"But you say you know a good man? God says that is balderdash.

"_Every_ man's conscience is _vile_ and _depraved_. You cannot depend on it to be your guide. It will lead you astray, every time. You are not suited to guide your own lives, my friends. You will find that you cannot satisfy your desires, no matter how far astray from the Lord you may go.

"To live a truly successful life, you must let the Lord be your guide."

The sermon continued along those lines for forty five minutes, never a break, never a lapse in fervor. Bella seemed to pay no attention to any of it, nor, judging by their thoughts, did many other people. They kept on with their private thoughts, adopting a been-there, done-that attitude.

Edward sensed someone staring at him, and he slowly turned his head to the left. A young man, Bella's age, quickly turned away. There were whispers. Furtive glances in his direction from the group of teens. Their thoughts focused on him, almost as one. It was all Edward could do to ignore the cacophony and focus. One thought at a time.

"Who the hell is this guy?"

"He's kinda hot. Wonder why I haven't seen him before."

"Why's he wearing that coat? It's like eighty degrees out today."

He knew from experience that almost any attention was unwanted by definition. Attention because he did not belong was even worse. That kind of attention rarely abated on its own. As the preacher droned on, mentioning something about a candlelight vigil for Mike Newton coming up in a few days, Edward began to make his way toward the exit.

He took up his spot under the tree at the cemetery again, safely ensconced in shadows. He lit a Marlboro, inhaled deeply.

"Can I bum one a those?"

He turned quickly. A man, dressed in baggy jeans and a blue button-down, carrying a shovel. Presumably, he was the cemetery's groundskeeper. "Waylon" was stenciled over his breast pocket. He looked at Edward expectantly, almost embarrassed.

Edward said nothing, considering his options. He reached into the inside pocket of his coat, drew out the pack of smokes and flipped it open. Waylon reached for one.

"Yeah," Waylon said as he retrieved a book of matches from his pocket and struck one. His jeans sagged down some more, exposing the crack of his ass. "I cain't never last a whole sermon neither. Lucky for me, they changed my shifts so I gotta work Sundays now anyhow."

He squinted into the sun, sighed.

Edward said nothing.

"You ain't from 'round here, is ya? 'Cause I knowed just 'bout everyone in Forks, and I don't recall seein' you around before."

The crowd began to file out of the church, and Edward directed his attention toward it.

"I mean, you seem like a nice fella and all, is all I'm saying. Visiting relatives in town maybe? 'Cause, like I said, I know just about the whole town. I play Santa at Christmastime. The kids love it."

Waylon ground the butt of his finished cigarette into the grass with his foot and smiled.

Edward was growing impatient with this man, but he could do nothing about it just then.

"Just passing through," he said. "On my way north."

"North, eh." He hitched up his pants. "Alaska maybe? Heard some real nice talk about Alaska this time of year, though I ain't never been there myself. No sir, born and raised right here in Forks. Furthest away I been is Seattle. You ever been to Seattle in the summertime? Beautiful place. Got a daughter down there right now, studying at the university." With this, Waylon paused. His thoughts turned to his daughter. The nature of those thoughts confirmed what the preacher had said about all men being vile and depraved. Edward held his disgust in check. He had neither the time nor the inclination to solve all the world's problems. This man's daughter would continue to suffer, or she would not. It was none of Edward's business.

The truth was, if not for bad timing, Edward would dispatch this buttcrack Santa here and be done with it. He turned toward Waylon and fixed him with a cold stare, intent on putting his attention back on the people exiting from the church. He did not want to miss seeing Bella again. Waylon turned and went back to tending the flowers.

Edward looked across the street, where the crowd jostled one another as if they were in a race to get away. In the confusion, Edward must have missed Bella. He saw Charlie talking with the blue-haired old lady whose thoughts had been so dismissive of his parenting skills. Edward could spot the fake smile on the police chief's face from a hundred yards away. Charlie looked Edward's way, briefly. Edward heard him make a mental note to keep an eye on the stranger. Inwardly, Edward cursed. He did not need the police chief, let alone Bella's father, keeping tabs on him.

He desperately searched the crowd for Bella. If his heart were still beating, he knew it would bouncing around in his chest right then. He hadn't felt this sense of anxiety in ages.

He lit another cigarette and stepped into the sunlight, desperately scanning the crowd.

"I know what you did, motherfucker."

And there she was, Bella Swan.

She stood before him, pointing her finger at his chest with one hand and uncomfortably covering her body with the other.

Stunned, Edward fumbled for words. He stepped back into the shadows.

"What kind of a sick asshole are you, anyway. Hiding out in the woods by my house? Sneaking into my bedroom and watching me sleep? You thought I wouldn't see you or something? Seriously? It's not like I actually sleep, you know.

"I was awake. I saw you. I saw you in my room, lurking in the corner like some sort of … I, I thought you were Charlie at first, so I pretended to be asleep." She took a step toward him and the pitch in her voice rose an octave. "I mean, Jesus, dude. Stalker much?"

She grabbed the lit cigarette from his hand, took a drag and turned to leave. But she stopped, turned back around and put her face inches from his. "Don't you _ever_ do that again."

She walked away, shaking her head. Ten yards away, she stopped again and turned around.

"Plus," she said, one corner of her mouth lifting into a smile, "you owe me a new iPhone."

With that, she stomped off in a huff.

Edward could only stare, at a total loss for words.

-30-

**A/N I must say, the response to this thing has been overwhelming. I'm not the guy who's used to getting hundreds of readers or dozens of reviews. I'm the guy who's used to writing and then deleting it before anyone can tell me how awful it is. So when I started, I didn't know if anyone would like this dark, mean, totally messed up Edward. Not to mention the confusing mess that my Bella is. Y'all are wonderful. **


	5. Chapter 5

The stranger settled into a corner, notebook in hand, camera strapped around his neck. No one paid him much attention as he jotted down his thoughts, snapped a few photos.

Except Edward.

The last thing he needed nearby was a newspaper reporter, but that's exactly who the stranger was. The big daily down in Seattle had sent him to Forks to tell the human interest story surrounding the disappearance of Mike Newton.

Edward eyed the reporter carefully. He didn't want the man to notice him, but he didn't want to lose track of him, either. So far, the reporter hadn't noticed Edward. He hoped it would stay that way.

Reporters had shown up after Edward's killings before. He'd always left town immediately when attention began to brew. Not this time.

The reason walked in just then, silhouetted by the moonlight.

She let the door close behind her as her eyes adjusted to the light. She looked left, right, ducked her head and let her hair fall over her eyes. A few heads turned her way to see who'd just arrived, but they all turned away quickly, as if they didn't want others to see that they'd noticed Bella Swan enter the room.

Half the town was gathered at the old dance hall on the outskirts of town for what was supposed to be a candlelight vigil for Mike Newton, but what had become a defacto after-graduation party. Music played over the room's lone speaker and teenagers gathered around the punch bowl at a table set up near the stage. If Newton had any friends in town, it wasn't evident on this night.

Edward watched it all from the dark side of the room. He'd debated with himself about showing up at all, but he suspected that Bella might be there. He couldn't resist seeing her again. He hadn't been near her since the confrontation outside the church five days earlier.

Someone nudged his elbow. "Some party, eh?"

Edward looked at the young man next to him. He was a chess-club type. Tall, with a poor complexion and hair as black as an oil slick. Edward said nothing.

"I'm Eric. Nice to meet you." He reached out his hand.

Edward said nothing. He did not offer his hand in return. Eric fidgeted. He looked around. He tried to fill the uncomfortable silence with a cluck of his tongue, by humming the song playing over the speaker, some old crooner.

"Yeah, well, it was good talking, I guess," Eric said. "I'll, uh, see you around."

Edward saw Bella staring at him from across the room, a smirk twisting her lips. He was about to head toward her when thoughts from nearby interrupted him.

"There's that hot guy again," the driver from the other night was thinking. "I wonder what his story is. He's definitely not from around here."

Edward looked her way. Her name was Jessica Stanley, and Edward hoped she would not be trouble. She was a nosy type who'd had a crush on Mike Newton.

He looked back to where Bella had been, but she was gone. Instead, Charlie was there. He was staring at Edward with a confused look on his face. Edward zeroed in on his thoughts. "I need to look into this guy," Charlie was thinking. "I could swear he was outside the church the other day, too."

Edward was not a man who lost his cool easily, but he was coming close. He felt like his world had been twisted inside out. Only days ago, he had been minding his own business, intent on doing whatever he had to do to get by, whatever he had to do to satiate the monster inside him. But now he found himself infatuated with a strange girl, stuck in a town where people were starting to notice him, and trying to figure out a way to dodge a small-town police chief.

"Fuck," he muttered as he hurried toward the exit. He was putting himself in danger for no good reason and he knew he had to stop it as soon as possible.

A hand grabbed his as he neared the door. He snarled and prepared to strike, fed up. This was it. He was going to slaughter whoever it was and skip town, never to be seen again.

"Stop. Don't go."

He saw her, but he did not believe it. Bella Swan held onto his hand. He wanted to wrench his hand away. He wanted to hold her hand more tightly. He wanted to forget he had ever come to this place and he wanted to stay there forever.

"Uh," he said.

She looked over at her father, who was sipping watered-down punch and huddled in a corner with the mayor. Edward turned up the collar on his coat and ran his hand through his hair.

"I can keep him busy," she said, "if you promise to wait for me outside."

She looked into his eyes with the kind of confidence he hadn't seen in her before. She lifted her eyebrows and waited for a response, the smirk returning.

"OK," he said. "I'll be around back."

He walked outside, certain that he would not stop. He would walk until he was far enough away to run, and then he would run to the next town, and the next, and the next. He wouldn't rest until he was halfway across the country.

He sat down at a picnic table that fronted a pond behind the dance hall. He waited, despite himself. He breathed in the air, taking in the smells of northwest Washington. He thought that he didn't do that often enough, appreciating the good things his existence had to offer.

What am I doing? he thought. He got up to leave. Bella approached him.

"We need to talk," she said.

Edward didn't trust himself to reply, so he said nothing.

"I'm. I didn't mean. Uh, I guess I'm sorry about the other day," she said. She looked at her feet, back up at him. "I shouldn't have yelled at you like that."

Music drifted out an open window. The Doors. Someone was on an old-school kick.

Bella broke first. She looked up at him, her eyes glistening, her pale skin almost blue under the full moon.

"Dance with me," she said. She looked away. She bit her lip and turned back toward him. She took his hand in hers and squeezed.

Edward did not reply, his face like a mask.

She pulled him to her, and began to dance as a Van Morrison song played.

_We were born before the wind_

_also younger than the sun_

Bella laid her head on his chest, and he breathed her in. He placed his hands on her hips and closed his eyes, consuming her in his thoughts. He felt her heart pounding, her blood coursing through her veins, an oncoming tsunami.

He opened his eyes to see her bare neck inches from his mouth. His salivary glands reacted; his mouth watered.

"Bella," he said.

She held him tighter. "Shh," she whispered. "Just hold me."

He held her tighter. He put his head against hers, his mouth tantalizingly close to her neck. He nuzzled his cheek to hers, his nose behind her ear. He breathed in again and felt his inner demon coming out to play. He opened his mouth and bared his teeth, running them slowly over her carotid artery. He stopped and ran his tongue over it, savored the warmth as his teeth ran over it again, less gently this time.

Bella moaned softly. "Yes," she whispered. "Do it."

Edward opened his eyes so he could take it all in. He wanted to remember this moment for as long as he existed. He looked up and Charlie Swan was staring at him through the open back door. He stood with the reporter from Seattle, who was staring too.

Edward broke their embrace.

"I have to go."

He turned and prepared to run.

"Wait! I don't even know your name."

He turned back to her and reached into his pocket.

"This is for you," he said. He handed her an iPhone, his fingers lingering on hers as she took it from him. "My name and number are in the contacts."

And he ran.

-30-

**You guys. No, seriously, you guys. I love all of you. Thanks so much for the response to the first few chapters. I'm feeling really good about where this is going. Mucho thanks to the incomparable MazzyStarla, the best beta/wife I ever had. (Buttcrack Santa = her idea). Look her up. Give her some love, too. :) Until next time ...**


	6. Chapter 6

Edward didn't stop running until Forks was a faint glow on the horizon. He stopped at a clearing in the forest and pulled his new, disposable cell phone from the pocket of his long black coat.

"Good. No service."

He put the phone back and took a seat on a fallen tree. He wasn't eager to think about what had just happened, but he knew he must. Trusting his instincts is what got him into this mess. It was time for deliberation.

Who was this girl? Why was he so taken with her? Why, for that matter, was she so taken with him? Could it be possible that she knew what he was? She appeared not to care about what he had done. Hell, she seemed to be inviting death.

It started with the smell of her blood. Of that much Edward was sure. The aroma was overpowering, virtually irresistible to him. She was not a normal human being. But there was more than that. She was a mystery, a puzzle that needed to be solved. Bella Swan could not be read, and Edward had a powerful urge to read people. He had no choice but to figure her out.

And Bella? He had seen the scars on her arms. He had read the things people thought about her, the concern that Charlie showed every time he looked at her. She was a troubled girl. But why? Edward believed that whatever had brought her to Forks was where he would find the origin of her troubles. No teenage girl moves across the country halfway through high school without a reason.

He stood from the log and looked east, into the rising sun. He wanted to go in that direction, away from Forks, away from the tangles that lie there. But he could not. He sighed and turned around, into the darkness to his west. He knew he must head that way, back to Forks. Back to the police chief who'd seen him run, the reporter who'd eyed him with suspicion, the teenagers who'd thought him odd, and the ethereal girl who'd captured him whole.

He hunched his coat up and walked, to give himself time to think, to give the sun time to fully rise. He walked down the middle of the two-lane highway, his pace neither fast nor slow. His black steel-toed boots followed one another on the double yellow line.

He carried himself like a man with concern, his shoulders slumped and his brow furrowed. His disheveled hair clung to the back of his neck and his sloppy, three-day beard began to itch.

He came to the crossroads and turned, passing by the gas station where this had all started. But he stopped then, drawn there by the thoughts of the people who had gathered for morning coffee.

He approached slowly, his head down. He glided through the front door without a glance, everyone deep into their own world. A barrage of thoughts attacked him. "It's a fucked up world." "We don't need no strangers in this town." "Dumb kid probably deserved it. Heard he was into drugs."

A group of elderly men were having coffee in the breakfast area. Each was hunched over the day's newspaper. And each was reading the same story.

"A mysterious man, a missing teen, and a town in trouble," read the headline.

Edward grabbed a paper from the rack and tore it open.

"Hey, you gonna pay for that?"

The clerk. Edward fought back a snarl.

"Of course," he said, reaching into his pocket and flashing a phony smile. He put a dollar bill onto the counter and began to read.

_FORKS, Wash. - They say something isn't right here on the edge of Olympic National Park._

_A teenage boy disappeared more than a week ago from his job clerking at the town's main gathering spot, a gas station, convenience store and breakfast joint just off the freeway. But little has been done._

_The police chief says he's doing all he can in the disappearance of Michael Newton, 17. But there were no clues left behind. There was no sign of a struggle. No security footage, no blood._

"_At this point in time, we have no suspects," said the chief, Charles Swan._

_But that is not true of the people who live in this town, perched along U.S. Highway 101 about three and a half hours west of Seattle. They say a tall, dark stranger has been seen about town in recent days. He showed up, the people of Forks say, just when Newton went missing._

_Strangers are rare here, residents say. The people who call Forks home tend to notice when one sticks around for more than a weekend of salmon or steelhead fishing nearby. _

_This man, they say, is not staying in any of the motels in town. He does not appear to have relatives here. And no one, save the groundskeeper at the cemetery, appears to have spoken to him. _

"_Stranger? Oh, yeah, real creepy dude," said the groundskeeper, Waylon Forge. "Wore a long black coat. Didn't talk much, but he gave off a real strange vibe."_

Edward tore the paper in half and tossed it into the garbage can. He could not afford this kind of attention. A few people looked in his direction, apparently noticing him for the first time. Whispered conversations began. Heads were kept down. Eyes darted about the room.

Edward hustled toward the door. These people noticing him was not his problem. Even the chief wouldn't be much more than a nuisance. But the media was another matter. The media had the potential to bring attention from the outside. Edward had spent nearly a hundred years avoiding that kind of attention.

He quickly walked away from the gas station and took refuge in an alley several blocks away. He pulled the cell phone from his pocket, turned it on. Thirty seven text messages, all from the same number. Nearly as many voicemails.

He turned the phone off and put it away.

Bella Swan was not his concern right now. He needed to find Charlie. He needed to read his thoughts. To find out what he told the reporter. To find out what he _really _believed. Find out if he'd been in contact with anyone from the outside.

He found Charlie at home, sitting on the rear deck with a cup of coffee and reading the very newspaper that had the potential to cause Edward trouble. Edward watched from his familiar spot in the woods nearby. He lit a cigarette and sat on the ground, his legs crossed.

At first, the chief's thoughts mirrored the words in the article. Soon, though, they turned to Edward himself.

"Got to check this guy out."

"Can't believe Bella was dancing with him."

"Seems like a real creep."

"Have to corner Bella on this one, let her know I'm serious this time."

Just as Edward expected. The chief was suspicious. Edward would have to deal with that, eventually.

His train of thought was interrupted when Bella walked onto the patio.

"Oh," she said. She hugged her arms around her body. "I didn't know you were out here, Charlie. I'll come back later."

She turned to walk back into the house, but Charlie reached out and put his hand on her shoulder. "Don't go," he said. "Have a cup of coffee with me. We should talk."

Bella rolled her eyes and shoved her hands into the pockets of her tattered jeans. She looked toward Edward hiding in the woods and smiled.

"Sure, Charlie. I'll have some coffee. What is it you want to know?"

She sat down with her back to Edward and crossed her legs at the ankles.

"This guy," Charlie said. "The tall man I saw you dancing with last night. Who is he?"

"His name's Edward," she said. "He's new in town. I don't know. I just thought. I was just trying to be nice."

"Bella." Charlie sighed.

He got up and began to pace. He waved his arms about.

"That doesn't make any sense," he said. "You spend the whole of your senior year in high school studiously _avoiding_ making any friends. You drop out two days after your eighteenth birthday, a month shy of graduation. You don't talk to anyone about why, including your own father. And yet I'm supposed to believe that some _stranger_ comes to town and you've all of a sudden become the Forks Welcoming Committee?"

Bella said nothing. She stared into her coffee cup. Blinked. Got up from her chair and walked to the railing. She stared at Edward. He smiled, despite himself.

"Listen, Bella," Charlie said. "I know it's been hard these last couple of years. Your mother -"

"Don't you dare," she said, turning around. She balled her hands into fists. "You have _no right_ to talk about her. You're the one who abandoned her. You're the one who let that _asshole_ into her life."

They stared at one another for a while, until Charlie bowed his head, sighed and headed back inside. "You know you can talk to me about anything," he said. "I love you, Bella. Always will."

With Charlie gone, Bella looked toward Edward again. She shook a Marlboro from her pack and placed it to her lips, her eyes never leaving his. She lit the cigarette and took a long drag, holding the smoke in as one corner of her mouth lifted into a sad smile. She exhaled a cloud and shook her head, taking her new iPhone from her pocket. She ran her thumb over the phone's black screen, caressing the button in slow, circular strokes.

"Come for me," she whispered.

Edward leaned forward and stopped. He knew that if he took one step, he would not be able to refrain from taking another. He would walk to her with purpose. He would leap onto the balcony, and there he would take her. He would do as she wished, and he knew he would regret doing so for as long as he existed.

He bowed his head and ran his hands through his hair in frustration, looking back up at her quickly before he turned to go.

"Why if it isn't the famous 'tall dark stranger.'"

Edward stopped abruptly.

"Felix," he said.

The enormous vampire before him grinned.

-30-

**A/N Once again, the people in this fandom amaze me. Thanks so much for the love, y'all. If you like this, I'll be your best friend if you leave a review. A huge shout-out to my beta/wife, MazzyStarla. She rocks my world. Look for me on Twitter if you want, CrackedFic, or on Facebook at Cracked dot Fic :)**


	7. Chapter 7

Edward did not move. He knew that if he showed fear in front of Felix, he would lose before the battle had even begun.

"Well that was fast," Edward said.

Felix didn't lose the grin.

"The fucking internet is wonderful," Felix said. "It's not like the old days, relying on rumors and legends to find rogues like you. We have so many Google alerts set up, there's no way we'd miss a story like that."

Edward appraised his opponent. Felix stood at least a half a foot taller than he did, and outweighed him by a good fifty pounds. His pectoral muscles strained the shirt that covered them as he moved about the clearing in the woods.

"Don't get me wrong," he continued. "We still have agents in the field. All the big cities. Virtually every country in the world. Some things, well, they don't make it to Twitter."

The Volturi Council was almost entirely made up of vampires with special abilities, from the leader Aro's power to read a person's every memory to Jane's sadistic ability to inflict a mental illusion of burning pain.

Felix, though, was the lone exception. Aro had recruited him solely for his brutal fighting ability. The man was a barbarian who could rip apart most vampires before they had even started fighting.

"That story was posted to the Seattle Times' website just after midnight," Felix continued. "Aro _knew_ it was you. The stupid black overcoat and all. He wanted to send Jane, but I volunteered. Shit, I begged to come. You and I have long unfinished business."

Edward stiffened, but still he said nothing.

He glanced quickly over Felix's right shoulder. He saw a narrow path between two trees that would be big enough for his lithe frame, but that he doubted Felix's bulk could fit through. Felix's thoughts focused on ways he could inflict the most damage on Edward's body without actually killing him. He was becoming distracted by his own desires.

"My instructions are to bring you back to Volterra. Unharmed if possible. In one piece if possible. Headless if necessary."

Edward breathed in. He tilted his chin downward, as if he were resigned to his fate.

And then he sprinted to his left. He hoped his superior speed would allow him to get by before Felix could react. He knew that if Felix got ahold of him, there was no way he'd make it out of this in one piece. He would not go to Volterra voluntarily. Aro had been trying to recruit him for the better part of the last fifty years, but Edward always said no.

An eternity ticked by as the world whizzed past. Edward felt a grin forming. He began to believe he would actually escape. He eyed the slim opening between the two trees and adjusted his trajectory.

Felix grabbed him by his right arm so hard the limb nearly ripped from its socket. The beast picked Edward up and slammed him to the ground with such force that the trees around him shook. Birds took to the air. Dust swirled. Leaves fell upon the ground.

Felix was laughing.

"You think I don't know you, Edward?" He placed a boot on Edward's neck. Edward grimaced, but gave no other reaction.

"I was hoping you'd run, you dumbfuck."

He dug the boot into Edward's neck harder, until Edward was forced to grab Felix's ankle and try to pry it free.

"I knew you had some fight left in you! That's it! Come on, Eddie. Let's party!"

He released Edward, allowed him to stand.

"Now's when the fun starts."

Edward didn't wait for the attack. He went after Felix with everything he had. Edward gripped his opponent's neck with both hands, his thumbs on the Adam's apple. He squeezed with all his might until he heard a crack.

Felix showed no reaction.

"You done?" he croaked.

He pulled Edward's arms from his neck as if they were nothing more than a nuisance. He twisted Edward's left hand until he heard the bones snap. Then he did the same to his right hand and slammed his forehead into Edward's nose.

Edward grunted in pain. He was able keep his balance, though. He eyed Felix carefully. In his mind, he saw Felix considering whether to grab Edward by his feet and string him from a tree or grab his head and twist until his neck broke.

He focused. He watched the twitch in Felix's fingers, the crow's feet around his eyes pull together, the corners of his mouth lift almost imperceptibly.

He would go for the feet. It was the option that allowed for the most torture.

Edward closed his eyes. He clenched his fingers into fists and tightened every muscle in his body. He felt the bones in his wrists healing already.

"Felix, will you tell Aro something for me when you see him?" he said through gritted teeth.

Felix grinned.

"What's that?"

"Tell him I said Fuck You."

Edward spun his left leg over his right, used the momentum to lift his body from the ground. He went with it and slammed his fist into Felix's jaw. He felt the bones in his hand snap, along with those in Felix's face.

Felix fell to the ground, on his knees with both hands in the dirt. Edward used the opportunity to plant a steel-toed boot in his ribs. They gave way, cracking. He repeated the action again and again, until he thought Felix would be down for a moment. He jumped on his opponent's back and wrapped his right arm around his throat.

With no weapons, Edward was forced to compromise. He dug his teeth into Felix's neck, ripping flesh away, spitting it upon the ground and going back for more. Felix's injuries were healing, though. Edward knew he had to act fast. He put one hand on either side of Felix's head and twisted with all his might.

Felix was far too strong.

He stood and threw Edward from his back with one mighty heave. Edward landed on the ground with a thud. He stood, but was greeted by Felix's shoulder in his abdomen. Felix slammed him into a tree, the trunk shattering as if it were made of papier mache.

The two vampires collapsed to the ground into a barrel roll. Edward struggled to gain the upper hand, but he felt as if he were fighting gravity. Felix picked him up by his underarms and flipped him upside down. He grabbed Edward's ankle and held him aloft with one hand.

Edward swung to and fro. This was the end, he realized. A century of fighting had come to this.

"Just make it quick," he said, exhaling an unnecessary breath. "I have no fight left in me."

His vision blurred, his body wracked with pain, Edward resigned himself to his fate. He didn't mind dying again. It would be good, he told himself, for it to be finally, blissfully over.

"We all gotta die sometime," Felix said. He hoisted Edward's limp body up as high as his enormous arms would allow and swung him overhead like a lion tamer would swing a whip. He slammed Edward's body into the ground with such force that it dented the forest floor.

Edward didn't react. He lay there for a moment, feeling his body try to heal itself even as it was disintegrating from within. He took one last look at the forest. He paused to remember his life, so long forgotten, one last time.

He would go out with dignity, neither begging nor pleading. He looked into the midday sun one last time, finally without fear. He couldn't remember the last time he had done that.

He turned his head when he sensed movement, and he nearly gasped at what he saw.

Bella Swan stood before him, a matte black Remington police issue pump action shotgun aimed squarely at Felix's back.

He shook his head "no" ever so slightly.

Bella stood 20 yards away, the shotgun at her hip. She creeped toward Felix as the sun cast her face in shadow.

"I don't want to kill you fast," Felix said, still unaware. "I want to enjoy this for as long as possible."

He picked Edward up again by the ankle, moving so quickly Bella didn't have time to react. He dragged Edward forward toward a massive white oak whose branches sprawled so far out they nearly dragged the ground. Edward saw Bella struggle to keep up as Felix swung Edward's limp body over the branch, forcing his knees to bend backwards. He screamed in agony as his knees cracked. He felt the ligaments tear as his body swung like a pendulum.

He frantically searched for Bella, unsure where she'd gone in the commotion. He could not find her.

Felix pulled a thick rope from his pocket and twisted it around Edward's legs, securing him to the tree as he swung upside down. Edward began to feel dizzy. He closed his eyes and readied himself for the pain that was to come.

A boom echoed through the forest. Edward opened his eyes. Felix stood before him, a hole the size of a watermelon in his torso. Another boom. Felix's head disappeared in a cloud of debris. A third boom, and Felix's left shoulder exploded. His arm fell free, thudding to the ground.

Felix's body stood for a moment, as if it were trying to decide whether it could continue without a head. It collapsed to the ground then, a pile of clothing and dead tissue. A second passed. Two seconds. Time did not move forward. Felix's arm began to crawl back toward his torso. Pieces of brain tissue gathered itself together. Such a sight amazed Edward every time he'd seen it, but he didn't have the energy to gawk.

He knew his fate would soon be the same if he didn't get blood into his body. Felix would rise again. He would show neither Edward nor Bella any mercy. Besides, Edward knew he had suffered too much damage to successfully heal himself. His body was simply too weak to continue existing.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner," Bella said, running up to him. "Charlie keeps the shotgun locked up, and I couldn't find the key. I had to break open the cabinet with an axe."

She laid the shotgun on the ground and stroked her warm fingers across Edward's cheek. He didn't have the strenght to react.

"I'm going to cut you down. I won't be able to break your fall. It's going to hurt."

She shrugged off her backpack, tossed it to the ground. She pulled a kitchen knife from within and began hacking away. Edward struggled to keep his eyes open as he watched. The sinewy muscles in her neck throbbed with each stroke. As she reached high for the rope, her sleeves rode up her arms, exposing a criss-cross of scars. Some were more recent than others.

"Here goes." She sliced through the last strand of the rope, and Edward fell to the ground, the back of his neck striking first. He collapsed, unable to move.

"Can you stand?"

Edward struggled to respond. He shifted his feet, his knees still broken, his ligaments unhealed. He winced at the pain as he lifted his body, able to prop himself up on one elbow. He tried to speak, to tell Bella the danger she had put herself in, to thank her for doing what she had done.

But he couldn't get breath into his lungs, and so he couldn't speak. His ribs were shattered, unable to bond themselves back together because he was so weak.

Bella bent over him. She pushed up her sleeve. She slid her knife slowly, gently across the middle of her forearm with practiced motion. Nothing happened at first, the wound appearing superficial. But soon, dark red liquid began to ooze. It ran slowly across her arm until it ran over the edge. Drop after drop striking the ground.

She leaned further into Edward as he lay prone on the ground. He felt her hot breath on his cheek as she lifted his chin and spoke.

"Here," she whispered. "Drink this."

-30-

**A/N Did you guys hear the news? The Man in the Long Black Coat is up for Fic of the Week at The Lemonade Stand! Yahoo! I really appreciate the reviews, follows and faves. They validate my existence. As always, hugs and kisses to the super-hot MazzyStarla for beta-ing out the serious goofups. The ones that remain are my fault. See you next time. :)**


	8. Chapter 8

Edward used what little strength he had left to turn his head away. He was careful not to breathe. If he smelled the blood, he was afraid he would devour her.

"Take it," Bella whispered. She held her arm closer, inches from his face.

"I will not." He lay back and closed his eyes, waiting for her to leave, waiting for Felix to reanimate, waiting for it all, mercifully, to be over.

He had never wanted this life. He'd tried so hard to resist becoming what he was forced to become. When he finally found what he thought was a solution, he still felt like a monster. In a way, he'd been looking forward to this day for nearly a hundred years. He couldn't wait for it all to end.

A warm drop of blood hit his lips, breaking his train of thought. Another one landed. And another.

He opened his eyes to see the horror. Bella leaned over him, her wound perched inches above his mouth. She squeezed the cut to make the blood flow. Her eyes focused on his blood-stained lips.

Edward fought himself. He fought his nature. He fought thousands of years of biology to resist. But he could not. He opened his mouth slightly and licked his lips, held his tongue out as drop after drop landed. He moaned as he savored its salty, metallic taste.

A moment passed. He felt the beast within him awaken. The long healing process began in earnest. His knees itched uncomfortably. His ribcage expanded. The skin near his wounds began to feel warm.

He took Bella's arm in his hand and held it in front of him for a moment. He looked into her eyes, glistening with tears.

It took all his power to push her arm away.

"You have to go," he said, licking his lips once again and turning his back to her. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to her. "Wrap that wound."

He sat up and contemplated this girl. She looked at him with those wet eyes, at once fearful and full of lust. It was as if she saw her own demise and welcomed it.

"I won't go until I know you're OK."

He laughed. He couldn't help himself. His eyes began to take on a red hue and he felt the monster growing stronger, though it would be a while before he was fully healed.

"You have no idea who I am," he said. "What I am. What I'm capable of. Go. Now. If you know what's good for you."

"Oh, please. Don't give me the scary man routine," she said, getting up and pacing the clearing. "I know exactly what you are. And I know exactly what I'm doing."

Edward watched her. She moved with the grace of an angel as her feet padded over a floor of pine needles and soft mulch.

Behind her, Felix's corpse began to move.

Edward struggled to rise. He wasn't strong enough to stand, and Bella came to him.

"Here, let me help you."

He waved her away.

"You're a fool," he said. "You think it's that easy to destroy one of us? You're lucky the slugs didn't just bounce off of him. I've never seen anything like that. But just because you hurt him does not mean he's gone."

"Fiocchi Armour Piercing Shotgun Slugs," she said. "Police issue only. They're designed to go through engine blocks."

He laughed and nodded toward the corpse. "Yes, well, take a look. See what you've accomplished."

She gasped. Felix's headless body was crawling across the ground toward its missing arm. It grabbed the arm and reattached it. She was speechless as she watched the skin grow back over the wound.

"I have to burn it," Edward said. "It's the only way to be sure." He pulled his zippo from the pocket of his coat, but Bella already had her plastic lighter out.

"No," he said. "Let me do it. It's too dangerous for you here."

He tried to stand but doubled over, groaning in pain.

Bella smirked.

"Don't forget who saved your ass," she said. "I'm not as weak as you think I am."

Edward watched as she piled debris around the twitching corpse and scooped the brain matter toward it with her foot. She held her lighter to the pile and flames rose, fanned by a slight breeze. Heavy smoke poured from the damp undergrowth, and an acrid stench filled the air. It was not the first time Edward had smelled it and, if he was to survive after this, he knew it probably would not be the last.

"Can you move?" Bella said.

Edward slowly stood on wobbly knees. She approached him, put an arm around his waist as he debated what to do. He knew that if he stayed he risked going up in flames, too. He put an arm over her shoulder and the two began limping away. He would survive, he supposed, to face another day.

"Those cuts on your arm?" he said as Bella stooped to pick up the shotgun, exposing several inches above her wrist. "Where'd they come from?"

There weren't many explanations for such scarring. Either she'd been in some freak accident, she was purposely cutting herself, or today was not the first time she'd done what he saw her do.

Edward didn't want to contemplate what that might mean.

Bella pushed her sleeve back down. "Don't act like you give a shit about me," she said. "Besides, it's none of your fucking business."

It began to drizzle as they approached Bella's house. She led him to a shed in the backyard, cleared a workbench and helped him lie down.

"You'll need more blood," she said.

"No. Absolutely not. I'll be fine. I just need a little time."

She sighed and closed the door. A sliver of muted daylight came through a small window high on the wall and reflected off Edward's cheek. Scattered dust particles danced.

"Someone will notice the fire," she said.

"The rain will put it out."

They stared at one another in silence. Edward watched as her hands fidgeted. She ran her teeth across her bottom lip, pulled at the belt loops on her jeans.

He offered her a cigarette, which she took.

"So," he said, lighting it for her. "How did you know? Am I that obvious, or do you have experience with my kind?"

She laughed and blew smoke upward, watched it curl toward the ceiling and disappear, as if it had never existed.

"I'm not stupid," she said. "You had blood on your mouth the night I met you. Your eyes glowed red, brighter than they are right now. And when you touched me, your hands were as cold as ice."

She paused to take another drag and began pacing the small room.

"Not to mention that line of yours. 'I killed him because I was hungry.' Jesus fucking christ, I nearly choked on my own spit. Is that supposed to be scary?"

Edward was dumbfounded. He knew he was not the kind of man who one would call wordy, but nevertheless, he had never before found himself at a loss for words, as he was now.

"Remarkable," was all he could come up with.

"Not so much, dude. I just call it as I see it."

She mashed her cigarette butt into a coffee can already half full of them. She saw him take notice and hopped up on the workbench next to him. She sat a few inches away from where his feet were, under the window.

"This is my sanctuary," she said, looking around. The shed was smaller than a child's bedroom, perhaps nine feet square, with a sagging ceiling of plywood that stood not much higher than Edward's head. In it were rusting tools and a coat of dust that must have been years in the making. "I hide out in here when I need to be alone. Which is a lot, lately. Charlie doesn't know where I go."

An uncomfortable silence filled the room.

"But why?" he said, wishing for the millionth time that he could read her thoughts.

"I have my reasons," she said.

"That's not good enough."

"It'll have to be. I don't owe you a damn thing."

Edward felt the strength coming back to him. He slid his feet from behind Bella and hung them over the side of the bench. Tentatively, he lowered them to the ground and stood. He felt OK, strong enough to survive. Not nearly back to his full strength yet, but that could be taken care of. He was twice as strong right then as any human on the planet.

"They'll be back, you know," he said. "Felix is gone, but he has friends, for lack of a better word. They'll be after me. And you."

"Tell them to bring it," she said.

"You have a death wish." It was a statement, not a question. "Those cuts on your arms. They're not from feeding people like me, are they?"

"If you only knew."

"Why do you do it?"

She bowed her head and looked at the ground, darkening with the day. "It's the only way I can feel _anything_," she said. "Anything besides regret."

There was silence. Neither knew what to say.

Bella broke the silence by changing the subject. "A vampire, eh? How'd that happen?"

"I, too, have secrets, Miss Swan."

"But you're not a normal vampire, like in the movies or whatever. You go out in the daylight and get all sparkly and shit. You don't have fangs. And, far as I can tell, you don't go around killing innocent people because you want to suck their blood."

Edward scoffed.

"You have no idea what you're talking about."

Bella smiled. "When you touched me. In the truck that first night? The way you stroked my thigh, so gentle."

"Yes," he said, remembering the strength it had taken not to kill her right there.

"I was awake," she said, "pretending to be unconscious. I could tell. I could tell you were a good person."

"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard," he said. "I'm not a good person. I'm a monster. I killed your friend. The boy they've been making so much fuss over. Mike Newton."

Bella laughed so hard she snorted.

"He _wasn't _my friend."

"You are, by far, the strangest, most maddening, most … most … most intriguing person I have ever met."

"Yeah, well, join the fucking club," she said, smirking. "Charlie's _constantly_ trying to probe my mind. He means well, but I wish he'd leave me the hell alone."

A car door slammed. They both turned their heads toward the house.

"Shit. Charlie," Bella said.

"I'd better leave," Edward said. He turned to her as he walked out the shed door. "He's worried about you, you know."

"I can deal with Charlie," she said. A moment passed. They both heard the front door open.

Edward began to run toward the woods.

"Where will you go?" she called after him.

He didn't answer because he didn't know the answer. He knew he should leave. For his own safety. He should allow the Volturi to deal with Bella, as was their right.

He ducked down into the trees and turned back toward Bella's house.

He watched her run, the shotgun slung over her shoulder as she entered through the open sliding glass door.

But he wouldn't leave. He couldn't. Not only was he hopelessly enthralled with Bella Swan, he realized, he was now her protector.

-30-

**A/N You. Guys. Rock. So fucking hard. I'm so new at this I don't know all the rules, I don't know what's normal and what isn't. Etc. But I feel like I'm being welcomed by a bunch of people I didn't even know were my friends. For that, I thank each and every one of you. **

**It's been pointed out to me that the whole shotgun thing from the previous chapter wasn't exactly straight out of the Twilight Canon Vampire Rulebook. Perhaps I should give a heads up next time. So take this as a friendly heads up: This story is going to follow most of the rules that Stephenie Meyer created in Twilight, but not all of them. If the story requires a fire-breathing dragon who reads poetry, I'll include one (but don't worry, it won't … probably). If it requires a vampire who is slightly more vulnerable to the laws of physics than a canon vamp, then I'll include that, too. The characters originated with someone else, but I'm making them do what I want now. I hope that's OK. ;)**

**Lastly, go give some virtual love to the gal who helped me create my Bella, my wife and beta MazzyStarla. She always knows when I've screwed up, and how to fix it.**

**Oh yeah, one more thing. Go look at my profile page for links to three awesome new banners for this story, created by three wonderful ladies. **


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N Fair warning: This chapter mentions two icky things: suicide and molestation. But don't worry! There's no description of either, and there aren't any gross details or anything. Just thought you should know. -cracked**

-00-

Edward watched and listened from afar as Charlie pleaded with Bella for an explanation.

A rational explanation.

"Listen, Bells, I know there are bears in the woods. Hell, I've warned you about them. But just because you thought you saw one is no reason to go breaking into my shotgun case. That makes absolutely no sense."

He shook his head as Bella stood before him in the house's cramped kitchen.

"What's really going on? You can tell me. I'll understand."

Bella said nothing.

"Does it have something to do with that man? The one at the dance hall? You shouldn't be hanging around him. You know, if you are."

"No. I mean, yes. I mean, this isn't about him, dad. I just wish everyone would leave Edward alone."

Edward tensed up at the mention of his name. It was the first time he'd heard her speak it since he gave her the phone with his name programmed in. The sensation gave him goosebumps. He couldn't remember the last time that had happened.

He heard Bella stalk off, presumably heading for her room upstairs.

"We're not done talking about this," Charlie called after her.

"Yes we are!" she screamed. "I'll see whoever the hell I want to see. _Charlie_."

Edward heard a door slam. He couldn't see into her room from his spot in the woods. And he couldn't read her mind. He was growing frustrated.

The phone in his pocket rang. It was Bella. He knew he shouldn't do what he was about to do, but he couldn't stop himself. He approached the house and leapt onto her window ledge. He knocked softly.

"Oh my god," Bella said as she slid the window open. "You're fast."

Edward stepped inside.

"Are you here to kill me yet?" Bella said.

"Don't be a ridiculous."

Edward turned away and studied the stack of books on the desk next to her laptop. Wuthering Heights, Pride and Prejudice, and Romeo and Juliet stood out.

Bella sighed. "Then seriously, why are you here? Why are you stalking me? Why are you the only thing I think about when I'm awake? The only thing I dream about at night? Why have you completely and utterly taken over my life?"

He ran his hand through his hair and scowled. "I have no earthly idea."

He sat down on her bed and put his head between his hands.

"You'll need protection now. They'll send others. I have no way of knowing what they might already have figured out. Even if they don't know anything yet, even if I run, they'll break me when they find me. They have ways of finding out what I know. I won't be able to keep your involvement a secret."

"God, don't you get it, Edward? Or are you as obtuse as you seem?" she said. "I don't _want_ your protection."

"You'll die without it, Bella. You'll probably die with it. I am only one man against many."

"Maybe that's what I deserve."

Bella sat next to him on the bed. She leaned in, put her hand on his leg.

Edward tensed up. He didn't know what to say.

"You can do it, you know," she whispered. She bared her neck.

"No. I can't."

"Why not? You killed Mike, didn't you? What makes this any different?"

"It just is. I don't know why."

"Why didn't you kill me that night? You didn't even know me. You could have done it, easily. It doesn't make any sense."

"I read people's thoughts, Bella. But trying to read you is maddening. I can't do it, and I don't know why. And your smell. It's unlike anything I've ever encountered."

"Wait a second. _What_ did you say?" She took his hand in hers and looked into his eyes. "You can read _minds, _Edward? Are you _shitting _me?"

He laughed.

"It's something I've been able to do ever since I became what I am. Some of us have powers, enhanced abilities, whatever. That's mine."

"But you can't read my mind? Has this happened before?"

"No," he whispered. "Never."

They sat on the bed together, their fingers entwined. Neither knew what to say. Edward spoke first.

"If you really want to die, Bella, why haven't you done it yourself? It shouldn't be too difficult. Humans are a fragile species."

"Don't you think I've tried?" she said, releasing his hand and holding out her wrists for him to see. "I can never go all the way. I guess I just can't bring myself to do that to Charlie. He cares so much. It would devastate him."

"And you dying at the hand of another wouldn't devastate him?"

"It's different," she said. "You don't know what it's like to feel responsible for the death of someone you love. To _be_ responsible. I can't let Charlie feel like that."

"Don't be so quick to assume, Bella. Others have suffered sorrows beyond measure, too."

There was silence for a moment. Bella stood and looked down at Edward. "Please. I'm begging you. If you don't do it, those other vampires will. You said so yourself."

She put her hand on his chin and turned his face toward hers. She ran a thumb over his lower lip and waited until he looked into her eyes.

"You don't have to kill me," she whispered. "You could just make me like you."

Edward was momentarily caught off guard. He parted his lips and felt her thumb move slowly over his teeth. He took in her scent, and soon, the boiling began within him.

He stood. He moved her hair away from her neck. He put his cheek to hers and closed his eyes.

Bella moaned.

"No."

He stopped himself. How stupid. He had almost ruined everything. Overcome with rage, he shoved Bella away, harder than he meant to. She fell onto the bed and hit the back of her head on the wall.

"I am sorry," he said. "For everything." He climbed out the window and leapt.

He heard Bella crying softly as he hit the ground running into the night. He was angry. Angry at himself for getting too close to this girl. Angry at her for failing to see what a gift she had, a human life. He was angry at the situation he found himself in, the Volturi after him, the cops looking at him, the newspaper curious. In the span of a week and a half, he'd nearly ruined almost a hundred years of carefully living in the shadows.

He needed to get rid of the anger. Anger was dangerous. Anger could lead to carelessness. Carelessness could get him caught. He decided to try and burn it off. Perhaps a hunt would take his mind off things.

He ran away from the house, steered clear of the burnt area where Bella had dispatched Felix's remains, and within moments found himself back at the highway into town.

That was fast, he thought. He flexed his arms, stretched his neck out. He completely forgot that he was supposed to be hunting. He was feeling stronger than he had in years, and yet the only human blood he'd had in more than a week had been a few drops from Bella's self-inflicted wound. That made no sense. Especially after the beating he took from Felix. Typically, he would need to feed on two or three humans in a single day to feel this strong after such physical trauma.

A sudden rage overtook him. He felt euphoric. His eyes burned bright red, nearly glowing in the dark.

Had Bella's blood done this to him?

A car approached from behind. He ducked into the trees to watch it pass. But as it got closer, Edward lost control. He leapt from his hiding spot and landed on the car's hood as it traveled at full speed. The driver, a middle-aged woman who'd been talking on her cell phone, swerved and hit the brakes.

Edward went flying into the road like a piece of debris. The car came to a stop several feet from him as he stood.

He snarled and hunched his shoulders as he rose into a crouch.

The driver screamed. Her thoughts were jumbled. She thought he was a werewolf, the stuff of local legend. She thought of her daughter, sitting in the back seat.

Edward looked at the girl, nine or ten, long dark hair and pale skin. Her brown eyes shined, as if she were about to cry.

Edward stopped. He felt ... guilty.

That girl could have been Bella only a few years ago.

It was the first time he'd ever stopped himself in the midst of a hunt.

He ran back into the woods, leaving the woman trembling as she searched the vehicle for her phone.

He would have to hunt elsewhere. It was Sunday morning. He knew exactly where to go.

It was still early enough that the church across from the cemetery remained empty. But the cemetery itself did not. A single vehicle, a beat up Ford Ranger pickup truck, sat in the parking lot. The gate was locked, but Edward tore it open without much effort.

He headed straight for the maintenance shack.

"Well, if it idn't the dude in the long black coat," Waylon the maintenance man said as he exited the building. He hitched up his sagging pants, smiled, and waited for a response.

Edward said nothing. He remembered he had wanted to kill this buttcrack Santa the first time he'd met him, but was unable to because of the church crowd. He was disgusted by child molesters more than he already was by the general depravity of man, and this guy's thoughts were worse than most.

He paused and savored the moment. He scanned his surroundings, made sure they were alone.

He picked Waylon up one-handed by the throat, careful not to kill him. He did not want to forego the rare pleasure of sinking his teeth into living flesh.

Waylon struggled. He kicked. He pawed at Edward's face. He tried to scream, but couldn't get air into his lungs.

Edward simply carried him back into the shack and slammed the door with his foot. He dropped Waylon, who scrambled backward until he could go no further, trapped against a workbench.

Edward bent over Waylon and pushed his head to the side as the man tried to resist. He bit, hard, harder than he was used to doing. Blood gushed. It ran faster than Edward could consume it, pooling at his feet, circling toward an overflow drain in the center of the room.

Edward tried to keep up. He sealed his lips against his victim's neck. He closed his eyes and swallowed.

Minutes passed. Waylon's body stopped moving. Its skin drained of color. It began to smell dead.

Edward released the corpse and took in a deep breath.

He paused to consider what he had done. He had no escape plan. He had nowhere to dispose of the body.

He was a fool.

He opened the door to look outside and saw cars parked at the church. The pastor, he supposed, and his staff. The public would begin arriving soon.

He couldn't carry the corpse through town and into the woods, not now. He would have to find some other way to dispose of it.

As he considered his options, he realized he had made a terrible blunder. Bella was at home, unprotected. He did not think the Volturi knew about her yet. But he couldn't be sure. The council frequently recruited new members with untold powers of observation.

He grabbed a power saw from the workbench and mutilated the corpse's neck to hide the bite mark.

Someone would soon discover the body. There was nothing he could do about that now. He had to get to Bella.

He ran through town, faster than he had ever run before. He reached the woods in mere minutes.

He approached the house carefully. There was no activity. No talking. No thoughts that he could read. Maybe Charlie was gone. To work. Or perhaps to church. Maybe Bella was alone. Maybe she had gone with her father, though that seemed doubtful after their fight the night before.

Wait. He paused. He sensed someone nearby. Here. In the woods.

He tensed up and concentrated.

There. He heard someone, maybe a hundred yards to his left. They were having a conversation. About him.

He approached slowly.

Oh no, he thought. They're here already.

Before him stood a group of six vampires, three males and three females. Among them was a monster nearly as large as Felix.

One of the women, short with a pixie haircut, spoke first.

"Hello, Edward," she said. "We're here to help."

**-30-**

**A/N Shit, as they say, is about to get real. ;)**

**Thanks to everyone who followed, faved or reviewed. Heck, thanks even to the people who clicked and read and didn't leave any evidence behind. I really do appreciate every person who reads this story. There are 200,000 other Twifics out there for you to choose. I'm so glad you chose mine.**

**MazzyStarla, beta, wife, ubermom, deserves even more credit for this chapter than normal. She saved me from going down an ugly, dead-end road I didn't know I had turned on to. So, if you like this even a little bit, it's because of her.**


	10. Chapter 10

She had the golden brown eyes of an animal feeder. They all did. Edward could hardly keep his disgust in check as he looked upon the pathetic group. How dare they call themselves vampires.

"I neither want nor need your help," he said. "Even if I thought you were capable of providing it."

The little one who'd spoken smiled wide.

"You and I are going to be the _best _of friends," she said. "Like brother and sister." She was practically squeaking as she talked. Edward scanned her thoughts. She was genuine. She believed the propaganda she spewed.

At least these vampires were not from the Volturi. He'd be headless already against a group this large.

"I don't have time for this," Edward said. He knew he had to check on Bella. There was no telling when the Volturi would show up again. No telling what they'd already discovered about Felix's death.

He turned to go.

"Bella's fine," the girl said. "I can't _wait_ to meet her."

Edward spun back around. "How do you know that? And what makes you think you'll meet her? You'll stay away if you know what's good for you."

The big man laughed. The striking blond next to him rolled her eyes.

"Carlisle?" said the small one.

The vampire in the back of the group stepped forward.

"Proper introductions are in order," the man said. "I'm Carlisle Cullen, and this is my family."

"Esme Cullen," said the dark-haired woman with him.

"I'm Emmett," the big guy said.

"Rosalie," said the blond.

"I'm Alice," said the chipper one. She gestured toward the only vamp left, a tall, silent ball of muscle to her right. "And this is Jasper. The love of my life."

She beamed like the teenage girl she once was and still appeared to be.

"Alice sees the future," Carlisle explained. "It is her gift. We, as a family, try to use it to render aid when one of our kind is heading for trouble. We know the Volturi well. We have something of an understanding with them."

"A family?" Edward said. He laughed. "Yeah. I've heard of so-called families like yours. Denying your true nature, pretending you can blend in with the humans. You cower. You hide behind a facade. You are slaves to humanity's superstitions. Feeding on animals like second-class citizens. You disgust me."

Edward saw Jasper clench his jaw, highlighting a criss-cross of faint scars. The muscles in his forearms tensed. Edward faced him, ready for whatever he was about to deliver. He sensed that Jasper's struggle mirrored his own.

"We like to think of ourselves as vegetarians," the one called Carlisle said, casually moving between the two men. "We co-exist with humans. We live rich lives, Edward. One should not judge what one does not understand."

"You do nothing but delay your inevitable demise," Edward spat. "And you suffer, willingly. I have no use for your kind. You people don't live. You just float."

He began walking away.

"We're staying in a cabin up near the lake," Carlisle called after him. "Come. Find us. It shouldn't be too difficult for you."

Edward made for Bella's house, his anger barely under control. How dare they, he thought. He spent the day angry, watching over Bella from his spot in the woods.

Charlie came home after the sun had gone down. It was near 10 p.m. He looked weary and exhausted, though his thoughts gave nothing away. He was concerned only about Bella.

She had already retreated to her room, though. Edward assumed she didn't want to continue her confrontation with Charlie from earlier in the day. It took all of Edward's strength not to go to her. He knew he shouldn't. His presence in her life did nothing but complicate it. He didn't know why, but he felt guilty about what he'd done to her. He'd put her life in danger, and now there was little he could do about it.

He watched the house all night, brooding over what he had gotten himself into, over the arrival of this vampire "family" that he wanted nothing to do with, over how he was going to protect Bella alone.

Before the sun began to rise behind him, Edward stirred. He approached the house from behind, listening for signs of movement. He knew from experience that humans were most vulnerable in the moments before dawn.

Edward hunched down and quickly made his way through the grass, covered in morning dew. He settled in beneath the porch. He wanted to be closer than the woods in case of trouble, but not in the open. He did not want Bella, or especially Charlie, to see him.

Soon, the morning edition of the Forks Forum hit the ground with a thud, the Sunday ads weighing it down. Edward spied the headline. It was written in a font so large it covered nearly the entire front page.

**Grisly Murder**

**Killer at Large**

Oh no, he thought. He'd completely forgotten about Waylon, the scumbag at the cemetery. A missing teenager was one thing. But a body that had been bled out and abandoned could do nothing but bring unwanted attention. He imagined there were not many murders in Forks. This rare, brutal one would galvanize the town. He was already in enough trouble with the Volturi and under suspicion by the police. This was too much. He knew he should leave and never come back.

He heard footsteps and ducked back under the porch. He could see Bella through the slats between the wood as she bent to pick up the newspaper.

"What the fuck is this?"

She sat down at the small table on the porch. She opened the paper quickly, abandoning her coffee.

"Oh no," she said. "Not Mr. Forge." She was quiet as she read the rest of the article. She got up, ripped the front door open, and slammed it closed.

"Charlie! Why didn't you tell me about Mr. Forge?"

She was crying then, banging on her father's bedroom door.

"Bells, what's wrong?" Edward heard the door open. He remained under the porch, uncertain.

"Waylon Forge is dead? Are you kidding me? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Calm down. You were asleep when I got home. I was going to tell you first thing in the morning." He sighed. "The last thing I wanted was for you to read it in the paper. I'm so sorry, Bells."

"What happened?"

"He was found in the maintenance shed at the cemetery. He was barely recognizable, he'd lost so much blood."

She stalked off, pounding down the stairs. The front door flew open a moment later, and she virtually leapt off the porch as she headed for the woods. "Edward, you motherfucker," she muttered under her breath.

He considered leaving, but he knew he couldn't. So he crawled out from under the porch and went after her.

"Bella. Wait."

She turned as she passed the first tree.

"You did this, didn't you?" She waved the newspaper in his face.

Edward said nothing.

"You fucker!" She hit him in the face, smacking the jagged scar that ran down his cheek. She winced after and cradled her injured hand.

"I should tell Charlie," she said.

"You don't want to do that." He took her hand in his and caressed it as softly as he knew how.

"And why not? You tell me nothing. You stalk around here like some kind of monster. You leave a girl without her father. For what?"

"I _am _a monster," he said, releasing her hand and turning around. "Get that through your thick head, girl. Killing humans is what I do. It is no different than you having a hamburger for lunch. We are each here to fulfill our destinies."

She touched his shoulder and forced him to face her. "Don't give me that crap again, Edward."

He winced when he heard her speak his name again.

"If that were true, you'd have killed me long ago. You decide what you're going to be, just like the rest of us. There's a person in there, behind the mask." She ran her fingers over his scar. "And you know it, whether or not you'll admit it."

They each stood there, looking at the ground.

"He was sick, Bella. Remember how I told you I read people's thoughts? Well, his were unclean. Disgusting memories. Sickening, the way only mankind can be. He has a daughter?"

"Yeah, Michelle used to babysit me when I was little. But what's she got to do with it?"

He waited for her to realize what he was saying.

"No. It can't be true," she said, covering her mouth with her hands. "He abused his own daughter?"

"He did."

She ran back toward her house. Edward let her go. She would come to learn the truth about humanity one day, or she would not. Either way, it did not change the face that every man was vile, every man's thoughts depraved.

He watched her go, stomping through the damp grass as she slapped the newspaper against her leg. He imagined what would happen if he simply chased after her and took her in his arms. He would look into her eyes and help her learn the truth. He would inhale her scent. He would brush his hands through her hair as he tilted her head back.

Something slammed into him from behind, ending his brief daydream. His body went soaring, stopped only by the branches of a massive oak.

He bounced off the tree and hit the ground face first, but righted himself quickly and crouched into a fighting stance.

"Demetri," he said.

Before him stood a lean, tightly wound vampire with olive skin and long black hair. He was smiling.

"When Felix didn't return, Aro decided to send a professional," the vampire said.

Edward did not speak. He knew Demetri's tactics. The man was a phenomenal tracker, able to hunt down anyone, no matter where they were, no matter who they might be. He somehow locked into their minds and was able to track them as if they had GPS devices attached.

But Demetri was more than that. He was also smooth. Edward knew it would be in his best interest not to engage Demetri in a verbal sparring match. He would surely lose.

So he said nothing.

"Do you want to play, or would you rather just come with me? The Volturi has long needed a man with your ability, Edward. You may join us, or you may die. It's your choice."

Edward said nothing.

"Play it is then," Demetri said.

He lunged for Edward, and Edward ducked to the ground. He quickly rose to his feet, expecting Demetri to be on the attack.

Instead, he saw Emmett Cullen holding the lithe vampire in the air by his shirt. Carlisle stood to the side.

"You can put him down, Emmett," Carlisle said.

The giant gently lowered Demetri until his feet were back on the ground.

"What do you think you're doing?" Edward said.

Carlisle all but ignored him and turned toward Demetri.

"We've come to discuss the truce," he said.

"I can handle myself," Edward said, getting between the two men, facing Carlisle. "I don't need your protection."

Emmett smirked. Demetri growled. Carlisle tensed.

A new voice entered the conversation.

"What's the hell's going on here?"

Bella stood behind them all, the shotgun at hip level. It was cocked and ready.

Demetri lunged for her, but Edward was too fast. He had the tracker in a headlock and pinned to the ground before he took his first step.

"Touch her and die," he said through gritted teeth. He was not surprised that he hadn't sensed Bella approach, now that he'd become used to her. But for her to sneak up on Demetri like that was phenomenal. It made Edward wonder if Demetri's powers didn't work on her, either.

Demetri looked directly at Edward. "You'll regret doing that."

Edward let him up, but stayed between him and Bella.

"Who are these people, Edward?" Bella said.

He approached her and put his arm over her shoulder, protectively. He put his hand on the shotgun and forced its barrel toward the ground.

"You shouldn't be here," he said. "It's dangerous."

"I thought I heard something, and, well. I thought you might need help again."

"Oh this is delicious!" Demetri said. "Was it she who dispatched Felix? Oh, please tell me it is so."

"She's none of your business," Edward said.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen," Carlisle said. He approached them both while Emmett stood close by.

"Let's talk, shall we?" He looked from one to the other as each of them nodded. "And this appears to concern you as well, Miss Swan. Please stay if you'd like."

"You couldn't chase me out of here with a pack of vampires," she said. "Hi, by the way. I'm Bella. But I guess you know that already. Who the hell are you?"

He chuckled. "I am Carlisle Cullen. This is Emmett," he said. "The rest of my family is as eager to meet you as was I. It is delightful."

He took her hand in his and brought it to his mouth. She caught her breath, but Edward only rolled his eyes as Carlisle kissed her hand.

"Enough with the pleasantries," Demetri said. He watched Bella for a moment, and Edward scanned his mind. Demetri was considering whether to bring up that having a human in their midst was strictly against the rules, but he badly wanted to track her. Edward was certain now that Demetri was as powerless when it came to Bella's mind as he was. He couldn't use his ability to track her.

He saw her as a challenge.

"You mentioned the truce?" Demetri continued. "I can only surmise you mean the agreement the Volturi has with your family."

"Indeed I do."

"But surely you don't mean to save _this one_," he said, nodding at Edward. "The man is beyond hope."

"We'll judge that for ourselves, tracker. You bring this message to Aro: We get him for a month. If he's able to adopt our ways within that time, you'll leave him be. If not, then you know what happens."

"What if I don't agree to any of this?" Edward said.

"Then you'll come with me," Demetri said, "and Aro will decide what to do with you."

-30-

**A/N Edward has wedged himself into a corner here. Do you think he'll be able to do it? Will he even try? I cannot **_**wait**_** to write the next chapter. So much coolness is about to go down.**

**Many thanks are due to wife/beta/resident hot chick MazzyStarla, without whom all the cool tracker stuff might not have materialized. It differs from canon because I wanted it to, not because Mazzy got it wrong. She knows more about Twilight than anyone else in my house. Me? Let's just say I like my vampires a little darker than Ms. Meyer does. ;)**

**Speaking of Mazzy, did y'all see the news? Her story is up for Fic of the Week at The Lemonade Stand! Woohoo! Pretty thrilling news over here in the cracked household. If you haven't already, give her fic a read. Go vote for it if you like it. She'll appreciate it. **


	11. Chapter 11

Edward pulled at the lapels of his long black coat. He stowed the few items he owned into its deep pockets. His cigarettes, the Zippo, the cell phone only Bella had the number to.

His fingers brushed the chain he kept in his pocket, which made him remember his first night in town, only a couple of weeks ago. He was sad to realize that he'd already spent his last night in Forks.

He waited for Charlie to drive away and knocked firmly on Bella's front door.

"I thought I should at least say goodbye before I left," he said when she opened the door. He didn't want to give her a chance to reply, so he continued quickly.

"Thank you for what you did for me. But it has put you in danger. You will always be in danger. And for that, I offer my sincere apologies. But this family. The Cullens. They will protect you. They mean what they say, Bella. I believe you can trust them."

He breathed in unconsciously, and quickly realized it would be the last time he inhaled her luscious scent.

"But I can't do what they've asked," he said, hanging his head. "It's not in my nature."

She stepped onto the porch and closed the door behind her. "Are you through? Because if you came here for a pity party, you should get the hell out."

Edward took a step back.

"Seriously, Edward. Be a man. You're such a tough guy on the outside, but I swear you're nothing but a little girl deep down sometimes."

She took another step toward him, further onto the porch, and placed a hand on his arm.

"You can do this," she said. She squeezed his arm, ran her fingers down the length of it. "You're the strongest man I've ever known Edward. The fact that you're here and I'm still alive tells me that." She laughed. "If those people can learn how to suck on a deer's tit, why not you?"

He laughed. "You want the truth? I don't want to go. But I have no choice."

He sighed. "I lived like they do, briefly and long ago. That's when I discovered that there is something inside me. Something wicked. Something I can't control.

"You're the only reason I haven't left yet. A smarter man would have been gone before Felix's arrival. Would have seen it coming."

He turned toward the forest, shrouded in morning fog.

"I told myself I would come here. I would tell you goodbye, as a courtesy. I would walk out of town the same way I came in. I would set up in another town, as I always do. I would avoid the Cullens, hide from the Volturi. It would not be an easy life, but it would be one I know I'm capable of. One I have lived successfully for a long time."

He turned back around and covered the space between him and her in one step. He reached for her, put his hand on her cheek. She leaned into it and edged closer to him.

"But I'm torn, now, seeing you here. I don't think I'm strong enough to go. Somehow, it doesn't matter that it would be the best for everybody. I can't leave you, Bella. Please forgive me for that."

She leaned forward as if to kiss him, but Edward drew back.

"No," he said. He put his hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "I can't. Not now.

"If I am to stay, I must go find this cabin," he said. "Cult, family, or misguided coven, I have no choice but to let the Cullens help."

He leapt off the porch and ran for the woods. He stopped a hundred yards in. He would head for the Cullens' cabin. He could pretend to try living their lifestyle for month. It would be that much longer he'd have with Bella. That much longer until he had to give her up for good.

He walked slowly to give himself time to think. But he sensed someone nearby. A member of the Volturi guard, he was sure. Spying on him. Maybe here to kill him, despite the so-called truce with the Cullens. The Volturi couldn't be trusted to honor any agreement.

He scanned for a mind to read. There. His stalker. Whoever it was anticipated Edward's every move. Saw several steps in advance. He thought like a military man planning an ambush.

He was good, this stalker of his.

Edward stopped walking. He waited. He heard leaves rustling behind him. He stepped from behind a tree, and Bella stood before him.

He put his finger to her lips and motioned further into the forest. "Someone's shadowing me," he whispered. "You shouldn't be here. But now that you are, stay close."

She nodded and mouthed "OK."

He began walking, looking over his shoulder to be sure Bella stayed with him.

His shadow was just up ahead.

"Edward. Bella."

It was the scarred one.

"Jasper!" Bella said. She apparently remembered him from their brief meeting in the woods the day before. She ran up to him, and the man clearly didn't know what to do. Edward nearly laughed as the vampire put his arms out as if he were warding off a demon. He looked enormously uncomfortable.

"It's so good to see you," Bella said, stopping before she embraced him, which clearly had been her plan. She nodded toward Edward, rolling her eyes. "This one needs your help. He needs a lot of your help. Typical tough guy. Can't cope when it comes change. Blah blah etcetera."

"Yes. Well. I may know a thing or two about that myself," Jasper said. "Come. It's not far."

They entered the cabin and Edward was taken aback by its size. It was more of a summer home for the wealthy than a cabin in the woods.

"We have a few like this, scattered about the country," Carlisle said as he walked down a sweeping staircase.

"Sit," he said, motioning toward the sofa. "Please."

Edward guided Bella to the end, as far away from these vamps as possible. He did not like the idea of her in a room with so many dangerous creatures.

Bella reached for Edward's hand, and he let her take it. She intertwined their fingers and cleared her throat.

"Just so you know," she said, looking at Carlisle. "This is a package deal."

"It'll have to be," Alice said as she entered the room. "Demetri has already told Aro about you, Bella. You'll need our protection."

Bella smiled wide and gripped Edward's hand more tightly.

"We should give Edward and Jasper a moment alone," Carlisle said. Clearly, this had been the plan all along.

Edward looked to Bella and unconsciously turned his body in front of hers.

"It's OK, silly," Alice said. "She'll be fine. I'll take good care of her." She reached for Bella's hand.

"If you touch one hair on her -"

"Chill out, Edward," Bella interrupted. "I know things about people. I picked you, didn't I? Alice is good people. I may have met her only yesterday, but I trust her. I know who I should be afraid of and who I shouldn't. It's OK."

He watched them leave, fidgeting in his seat.

"I don't know how you do it," Jasper said, now that it was just he and Edward. His accent hinted at southern roots.

"Do what?" Edward said.

"Remain in contact with a human without ravaging her."

"It's not easy," Edward said. "But there 's something special about this girl, about Bella. I find the smell of her blood almost irresistible, but it's more than that. It's almost as if she sings to me in notes only I can understand, if that makes any sense."

Jasper smiled.

"So you're a rogue," he said. It was not a question. Edward nodded. "Used to be one myself," Jasper continued. "I traveled mostly the south, Texas, Mexico, that sort of thing. Until I found Alice, or she found me. When we found Carlisle, everything changed."

Edward said nothing.

"It's not an easy life," Jasper said. He waited for a response, but got none.

"I struggled. I'm still struggling. But it's worth it. I don't have to experience the pain anymore. The guilt."

Edward shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He probed Jasper's thoughts. He saw a battlefield, perhaps the Civil War. Bloodshed. A woman, the name Maria. Countless victims, many of them newborn vampires. He sensed that Jasper's sorrow ran deep.

"Listen," Jasper said, interrupting Edward. "I know this sounds like a bunch of horseshit. I wasn't sure myself. But believe me, if I can do this, anyone can."

Edward had heard speeches like this before. He was becoming disgusted, angry. Do-gooders like this bunch acted as if one man's pain were transferable to another. As if one man's story of torture made any difference to another man. We all suffer on our own, he thought. That's the way the world really worked.

"Do not pretend we're brothers," he said. He stood, and he realized that he'd raised his voice louder than he'd intended. He spoke more softly, but just as firmly. "Don't pretend you know what I've been through. I know you've suffered great tragedy, Jasper. We all have. It is the fate of mankind to suffer. But my suffering is as different from yours as night is different from day.

"You can't imagine what it's like to see into a man's mind. To read every vile thought. To see every sickening vision. Every greedy, selfish, egocentric dream he has. It doesn't endear one to mankind as a whole."

He sat back down and scowled. Neither man spoke. Edward used the moment to calm down. No good could come from him getting upset. He was afraid he'd already revealed too much.

"Just what is it you all do, anyway?" he said after a moment, changing the subject. "You travel the world and save humanity from rogues like me? Is that it? You're vamp rehab."

"They're the Superfriends," Bella said, clomping down the stairs, arm-in-arm with Alice. "At least that's what it sounded like when Alice just explained it to me."

Alice gave Jasper a sheepish look.

"This was not going to end well," she said, smiling, looking back and forth between the two men. "So I thought I'd give it a shot." She turned to Edward. "We're not _exactly_ like the Superfriends," she said. "But it is kind of like that. We try to stop bad things from happening. I see things. They're not always clear, and they're not always certain, but if a decision's been made, I can usually tell where it's headed from there. In your case? Let's just say that there was no happily ever after. For you, or for Bella."

Edward tensed up at hearing Bella's name. He sighed. "What do you need me to do?"

"Lay off the humans," Alice said. "Stay with us. If you feel the urge, talk to me. Or Jasper. Or anyone one of us. But maybe not Rosalie. She's not thrilled to have a human in our midst."

"She's gorgeous, but the girl has permanent bitch-face," Bella said. "I don't know what her fucking problem is."

"Rosalie is troubled," Carlisle said, entering the room, Esme locked on his arm. "She doesn't believe it is our place to involve a human. When she gets like this, it is impossible to reason with her."

He smiled and took a seat in the big blue La-Z-Boy in the center of the room. He settled in and propped his hands on his knees. He looked Edward squarely in the eye.

"No man is an island, entire of itself," he said.

"And every man is a piece of the continent." Edward finished the sentence for him. "John Donne, 1572 to 1631. Meditation seventeen. I know it well. But what is your point?"

Carlisle smiled. He started to say something, but Edward cut him off.

"Donne was engaging in the wishful thinking of a poet," Edward said. He rose from his chair and began pacing the room. "He saw the world as it should be, rather than as it really is. The truth is, every man _is_ an island unto himself. _That's_ reality, Mr. Cullen. _That's_ the world we all live in. _That's_ what I must navigate each and every day. Alone, without anyone to back me up."

"You don't believe that," Carlisle said, looking at Bella. "Not anymore."

Edward looked at Bella too. She was smiling, almost smirking. It was infatuating and infuriating at the same time.

"How did you pick me?" Edward said, taking his eyes away from Bella and turning to Carlisle. "There must be dozens, even hundreds, of others who need your help. Who would welcome your help."

"We choose," Carlisle said, "based on who we believe has the worst chance of success. We choose those who need us the most."

"You choose those who are certain to fail?" Edward laughed. He shook his head. "I've been saved by a pack of self-hating vampires! How wonderful."

There was silence.

"We have had our failures, yes," Carlisle admitted. "More than a few, if truth be told." Edward scanned Carlisle's mind, curious about these failures. He saw a tall, lanky vampire with sandy hair tied back with a piece of leather. He saw a beast, eyes the color of blood, tribal tattoos forming an intricate pattern across his hairless scalp, his savage mouth dripping blood.

Edward gasped.

He stood.

He paced the room and clenched his jaw and tensed his fingers into fists.

Bella went to him. She took his hand in hers and brought it to her face.

"What is it?" she said. "Talk to me, Edward. Maybe I can help."

"It is nothing," he said. "Nothing that matters." He turned back to Carlisle.

"I'll join your coven," he said. "I can't guarantee success, but I do pledge to try."

Alice squeaked in response. "I am so thrilled! You're going to love it here, Edward. And so will you, Bella." She worked her way between the two, taking both of their hands in hers.

"I promise."

-30-

**A/N You guys! Bella keeps doing and saying all kinds of crazy shit without my permission. She's a handful, but she cracks me up. I can hardly keep her under control. And what of Edward? Do you think he's really going to try? What's up with his weird response at the end there? Time will tell, I suppose. (insert sinister laugh here)**

**Mazzy, oh, Mazzy. I do love her so. My wife/beta/bestfriendinthewholewide world MazzyStarla is kicking some major A this week. Just talking with her before I start to write the important bits makes this a better story. I can just shout out, "Hey, what's Jasper like?" and get a response that changes the way I do things. If you like this even a teensy bit, it's all her fault. ;) **


	12. Chapter 12

"Charlie's working late tonight. Let's go outside."

Bella took Edward's hand and led him out of her room and down the stairs. It was the first time he'd seen any other part of the house. The sparseness of it surprised him. It was worse than he'd imagined, judging by Charlie's thoughts. It looked like a bachelor pad. There was no sign that Bella had been staying there for almost a year. She was a ghost.

Edward squinted into the setting sun as she led him through the kitchen and onto the balcony.

"You want anything? Coffee? Water? Whatever?"

"I don't do that."

"Do what? Drink?" She laughed. "Tell that to Mike Newton."

Edward took his smokes from his pocket. Fired up the Zippo. Bella pulled the lit cigarette from his mouth. She took a deep drag and sat down on the thick rug that covered the floor, crossing her legs and kicking off her shoes.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be terrorizing a squirrel or something?"

"Why do you mock me?"

"I'm just messing with you." She lost her smile and shook her head. "I guess it's a defense mechanism or whatever. Draws attention away from me. I'm sorry."

She smoked some more, studied the ash at the tip of her cigarette.

"I'm glad you came. I missed you," she said. "Maybe some day, you won't have to come in through my bedroom window." She motioned for him to sit with her. He did, lighting another cigarette.

"It's hard, going almost a whole day without you," she said. "I feel like part of me's been missing. Does that make any sense?"

Edward didn't answer. He didn't want to. But he knew exactly what she was talking about.

"When do the fireworks start?" he said. He never understood the fascination with fireworks every July fourth.

"Usually right after dark." She peered into the twilight. "Probably soon."

They smoked together, and Bella laid her head on Edward's shoulder.

"Do you ever wish you could start over? Hit reset? Like if life were a video game or something?"

"I make it a point not to wish for anything," he said. "It prevents disappointment."

The first of the fireworks floated overhead. It burst into a rainbow of colors, each one more radiant than the last. The boom followed. Edward felt Bella flinch when the concussion reached them a full second later.

"I don't know if I can do this," he said. "It's not just the animal thing, which will be difficult enough, if not impossible. But I saw things, Bella. In Carlisle's mind."

He stopped. He ran one hand over the scar on his cheek and tried to avoid thinking of that day, without success. He was so absorbed in his past that he didn't notice his cigarette had burned down to his fingers.

Bella took the butt from his hand and flicked it over the side of the balcony. She put her arm over his shoulder. "You OK?"

Edward shrugged. "Of course." He put his arm around her waist and faked a smile, looking into the sky as the fireworks kept coming. Bella flinched with each concussion. Edward hugged her tighter.

"Loud noises. I can't handle them anymore," Bella said. "I'm fine if I'm the one firing the gun. I have the power. I'm in control." She stood up and went to the railing, leaning over the side and peering into the woods.

"Charlie taught me to shoot when I was a little girl. I was good at it, as you've seen." She laughed. "I could hit a Coke can from fifty yards. Every summer, I'd stay here with Charlie. He'd make sure to take me to the police gun range. All the cops called me the little sharpshooter.

"But now? I can't hear a car backfire or the lid of a dumpster get slammed without freaking out."

Edward stood and went to her. He wrapped his arms around her from behind, placing his chin on her shoulder. He inhaled, and for the first time, he was struck not with a desire to bite into her neck, but to hug her even closer.

"I should have killed the bastard when I had the chance," Bella said. "But every time I tried to stop him, it got worse for her. It was like my presence made her life even more miserable."

She turned around to face him. "I was twelve when I first started hurting myself."

Their faces were inches apart. She draped her arms around his neck and leaned her forehead against his chin. They stood like that as the fireworks flew overhead. Boom, flinch. Boom, flinch.

"Charlie and Renee weren't supposed to be together. That much was clear from the beginning, I gather. She was a waitress here in town. Dad was a cop, of course. A Desert Storm vet. But mom was flighty. She craved adventure. And she always hated Forks. The clouds, the rain. She never shut up about it, even years after we left.

"I was still a baby when they divorced. I guess it hit Charlie pretty hard, but there wasn't much he could do. Renee had a mind of her own." She laughed. "Just like her daughter."

She reached into Edward's pocket and withdrew another cigarette.

"We bounced around Southern California, mostly," she said, lighting it. "From one town to another, one guy to another. Until she met Phil."

She blew smoke into the air and shook her head, watching the cloud dissipate like the remnants of the fireworks above.

"He was a baseball player on the triple-A team in Phoenix. He always thought he was going to get called up to the big leagues, but it never happened.

"It pissed him off. He'd take it out on Renee. At first, he was just a dick. Bitching about dinner, the messy house, the clothes she wore. Whatever. But he was drinking more, probably doing steroids, and he started hitting her. I remember laying in my bed late at night, hearing her scream. I didn't know what to do.

"Renee always denied it whenever I'd bring it up. She'd say the bruises were because she was clumsy. The black eyes because she ran into a wall. The broken arm because she tripped down the stairs. I tried to believe her. I _wanted_ to believe her. I loved her, Edward. But I didn't know what to do.

"Phil said if I ever told anybody, he'd kill her.

"So I never did tell anyone. Not even Charlie. I thought I was protecting her."

The fireworks were over. Smoke drifted in the air high above on a rare cloudless night in Forks. Edward heard the drone of crickets in the forest, the creaking of the old house, Bella's quiet breathing.

"Let's go inside," Edward said, reaching for her. She took his hand and let him lead her into the house. They sat on the sofa, still holding hands. Bella began to cry.

"It's not your fault," he said. "You were a child, Bella. There was nothing you could do."

She wiped her tears and looked into his eyes.

"That's a crock of shit. I could have told. I _should_ have told.

"At first, I tried to stop him. I'd call out to Renee when I heard them fighting, pretending I had a bad dream, or that I needed a glass of water. Whatever would get her away from him.

"But that didn't last long. He caught on, I guess, or she did, because she started ignoring my cries. So I got bolder. I'd walk into the room and interrupt him beating on her. That worked for a while, too. I was so proud of myself. I thought I'd finally fixed it. Thought everything was going to be OK."

She shook her head. "But I didn't accomplish anything. I was so stupid.

"As Phil's career started to tank, the beatings got worse. More frequent. I remember once, I came home from school and Phil was home by himself, drinking beer and watching the playoffs on TV. I asked where my mom was, but he didn't respond. 'Where's Renee, you piece of shit?' I screamed, right in his face." She laughed at the memory. "I was fifteen years old. He pushed me away as if I were some bug who'd been bothering him.

"I found her in bed, passed out and bleeding. Her whole face was black and blue. I got her a washcloth, ice, Tylenol. I begged her to leave him. I mean I got down on my hands and knees and fucking _begged_ her, but she said she couldn't do it. 'How would I take care of you?' she said."

Bella rose from the sofa and began pacing the floor.

"So it was my fault. All of it. Every time he hit her, it was because of me. She wouldn't leave him because she wouldn't be able to take care of _me_ without him, without his salary."

Edward went to her. He folded his arms around her and let her cry on his shoulder. "It's OK," he whispered. "The world is full of evil, Bella. It's not your fault."

"Stop saying that," she said, breaking free of his arms. "Don't you think I know that now? You helped me see the truth, Edward. You made me stop being that weak little girl I used to be and grow some fucking balls.

"I spent years blaming myself. I spent years punishing myself. It started small. I'd dig my nails into my own skin. The pain made me feel alive. It felt like punishment. Like something I deserved. I moved on. Nail clippers. Scissors. Razors."

She pulled her shirt up over her head. Unbuttoned her pants and let them drop to the floor.

Edward gasped. Virtually her entire body was covered in scars.

"Now do you see why I greeted Jasper like he was my long-lost brother?" she said. "Because he _is_, Edward. I don't know where all his scars came from -"

"He was a soldier of some kind," Edward said.

"Yeah, well, whatever. And it's why I feel so connected to you, too." She approached him again and softly ran her hand over his cheek. "This might be the only scar I can see on your perfect body, but it's obvious you've got a million of them on the inside, Edward. You're as fucked up as I am."

He put his arms around her again. "Did he finally kill her? Is that why you came here, to live with Charlie again?"

"I was working. It was last summer. I was supposed to be starting my senior year in Phoenix. I was going to finish up, get the hell out of there, and never look back.

"I came home late, like I always did. I liked working the night shift because Renee and Phil were usually in bed when I got home. I was in school all day, so I rarely saw them.

"But I heard arguing as I pulled into the driveway. I thought about just sleeping in my car, or driving to a friend's house. I should've, but I didn't. I went in, and they were screaming at each other. Mom had a huge frying pan in her hand, trying to keep Phil away. I tried to get in between them, but Phil knocked me over and went after her.

"So I went for his gun. He didn't know I knew about it. I always told myself I would never use it."

She stopped talking. "I need a cigarette." She pulled one from Edward's coat and lit up, walking back outside. The night had grown cool, despite it being July. Edward removed his coat and placed it on her still naked shoulders.

"He laughed at me. Dared me to pull the trigger. I tried, Edward. I really tried. But I couldn't do it. I didn't have it in me. I chickened out. I was too weak."

She sat on the ground again, Edward's long coat bunched around her.

"He took the gun away from me. I didn't even try to stop him. He pulled it out of my hand like I wasn't even there. He fired it into the wall. BANG! Just to show me it was loaded. Like he was rubbing it in my face."

Edward sat down next to her. He took the cigarette from her limp hand and crushed the ash between his thumb and forefinger, put the butt into the pocket of his coat.

"Why do you do that? Hide the butts like that?"

"DNA. Fingerprints. Technology that hasn't been invented yet," he said. "I'm in the database. Have been for decades. The last thing I need is for some smart cop -" he looked toward her house - "to figure out who I am."

She chuckled, looking up into his face. "And who are you, Edward Masen? Who are you really?"

He laughed. "I'm a dangerous, vile vampire, Miss Swan. I'm the bad guy. That's all you need to know."

"For now," she said.

"Yes. For now."

They smoked in silence, waiting for Charlie's police cruiser to pull into the driveway.

"I left after that," she said. "Came here to live with Charlie. I thought my not being there anymore would keep her safe. Maybe even give her an excuse to finally leave him.

"But he killed her a week later. He shot her in the head, then killed himself. I never found out exactly what happened.

"Charlie wouldn't let me drop out of school. Not until I was eighteen. So I waited. I was actually on my way out of town. I stopped at the convenience store to tell Mike to go fuck himself, the asshole.

"But then you showed up," she said, "and everything changed."

-30-

**A/N Well **_**that **_**was intense. Sorry if it was too angsty and talky, but you had to know it was coming. You don't end up like my Bella because life has been easy. **

**Once again, hugs and kisses to MazzyStarla for saving me from myself. Her insight in this chapter saved me from the stupid. **

**Lastly, I want to offer my sincere thanks to everyone who's reviewed, faved, and followed. Feedback on my writing is like crack to me, and I'm severely addicted. :)**


	13. Chapter 13

Edward leapt from a rocky outcrop onto his victim's back. He sunk his teeth deeply into its neck and wrestled it to the ground. Blood gushed. He tried to wrap his lips around the wound as the beast flailed, but couldn't do it.

"How do you deal with the fur?" he asked, the front of his shirt now covered in blood. He spat and picked bits of hair from his teeth "It's disgusting, and it makes feeding quite messy."

Jasper laughed. Edward eyed him cautiously.

"I'd forgotten how difficult the mechanics of it can be for a newcomer," Jasper said. He bent over the mountain lion's body, now twitching.

"Here. Do it like this."

He flipped the animal over and bit into the other side of its neck. The blood only oozed now. He showed Edward how to drain the animal by opening the wound more and leaning over so any extra didn't get on his clothes.

"It doesn't taste very good, either," Edward said.

"One of the sacrifices we make," Jasper replied. "But in the end, it's worth it." He stood and brushed debris from his knees.

"I have a hard time seeing how," Edward said, disgust creeping into his voice. "If it weren't for the Volturi, if it weren't for Bella, I wouldn't even consider this an option."

"Do you really despise mankind that much, Edward?"

"Mankind? Mankind did this to me!" he screamed, surprising himself with the level of his anger. He pulled his coat tightly around him and turned away, taking a cigarette from his pocket and wishing he hadn't said anything.

"I've never met another vampire who smoked," Jasper said, apparently realizing a change of subject was a good idea.

"Old habits die hard," Edward said, laughing. He paused. "The truth is, it's the only human part of me left. I don't want to give that up."

He studied the tip of his cigarette and thought for a moment. Was his killing of humans simply a habit, too? Or was it an addiction? He wasn't sure. He had been doing it for so long, the very asking of the question seemed like an academic exercise, not something that could have real-world consequences.

"We should get back," Jasper said. They began walking. "You're doing great, you know."

"By what standard? By not having killed anyone in more than two weeks? The temptation hasn't gone away, I assure you."

"Nor has mine. Not a day has gone by since Alice found me more than sixty years ago that I haven't thought about what I'm missing." He stopped and smiled. "Speaking of Alice."

Alice stood outside the cabin and greeted them with a smile. She looked at Edward's bloody clothes and laughed.

"Give me that." She began pulling his coat from his shoulders. "The shirt too. Come on. Off with it. I'll get these in the laundry."

Edward walked into the cabin wearing only his black jeans and steel-toed boots. He watched Jasper and Alice go up the stairs and saw Bella sitting at the kitchen table. She was eating. He ran his hand through his hair, crossed his arms, and leaned against a wall, studying her.

She was quite beautiful, he thought. He remembered thinking the same thoughts the night he'd first seen her. How her skin seemed to glow. How her hair covered half her face, deepening the mystery.

"I can tell you're watching me, you know."

Edward smiled.

"How did it go?" she asked. She looked at his naked torso, pushed her plate away, and got up from the table with a wicked grin on her face.

"From the looks of you," she said, grabbing a napkin and approaching him to wipe a spot of blood from his chest, "you had dinner, too."

She smiled, but didn't remove her hand.

"It went as well as can be expected," Edward said. "But I'm not sure I can do this."

"Why is it so hard for you?"

"I never wanted to be a killer, Bella." He put his hand on hers, feeling the warmth on his chest. "But it's all I've known for nearly a hundred years. It is who I am. I'm afraid it's who I'll always be."

She pushed him away. Pulled a pack of cigarettes from her pocket. Walked onto the porch.

Edward followed.

"Do you really think everyone is bad, like you said the night we first came here?"

"I do. Everything I've seen has convinced me. Name another species not only capable of destroying the planet, but one that seems intent on doing so one individual at a time."

"What about me?" Bella said. "Am I bad?"

Edward hesitated. He had forced himself not to confront this question. A minute passed. Bella sat on the steps and smoked. He sat beside her.

"I honestly don't know," he finally said. "Perhaps that's why I find you so irresistible."

She crushed her butt on the bottom step and flicked it away, watching it arc into the air before crashing into the ground.

"I'm irresistible, huh?" she said, smiling and bumping an elbow into his exposed ribs. Edward flinched. She did it again. He flinched again.

"Are vampires ticklish?" She reached across his body and squeezed his ribs. He jerked away. "Oh my god. You _are_ ticklish!" She plunged her hand under his arm.

"Stop," Edward said through his laughter. He bent forward, trying to squirm away. He clamped his arm down on her hand and held it still, careful not to hurt her. But he was still smiling.

Bella caught her breath. She reached out and kissed Edward on the lips. He started to pull back, surprised, but she put her hands behind his neck. He returned her kiss, surprised again. Bella parted her lips slightly, and Edward broke away. He put his arms around her and pulled her closer. He didn't want to acknowledge that he liked it. At least not out loud, so he said nothing.

"I find you kind of irresistible, too," Bella said, pulling back so she could look into his eyes, now the golden brown color of an animal feeder. "I don't know what it is. You're unlike anyone I've met. Unlike anyone I've ever dreamed of. People are so fake, Edward. They cheat and they lie and they pretend they're good. They act like they're god's fucking gift to the world. Not you. Other than Charlie, you're the first honest man I've ever known."

"I am none of those things, Bella." He stood. "I'm a killer. I'm a monster who you'd be better off without."

"That's not gonna happen."

"Why? Why do you insist on being around me?"

"Because you inspire me, Edward. That first night? I saw in you the person I wanted to be. I saw your strength. Your confidence."

He shook his head. "That makes no sense, Bella. I'd just killed Mike Newton. You were angry. You tried to run from me, as you should have. You screamed for help."

She bit her lip. Edward longed to kiss it again, but he turned away. She put her hand on his shoulder and forced him to turn back around.

"I haven't been completely honest with you, Edward. Mike was sort-of dating my friend Jessica. The only friend I'd made, really, since coming to Forks." She lit another cigarette. "I never liked him, but I didn't know why. Then, a couple months ago, I overheard them fighting. I stayed back and listened. I figured it was none of my business. Until I caught him hitting her.

"I couldn't help myself. I attacked him. The truth is, I beat the shit out of him." She laughed. "I told him if he ever did it again, I would kill him. And I meant it."

"But you seemed devastated when you'd found out I killed him, Bella. You were pissed. You screamed about him being a nice guy."

"I was there that night to kill him, Edward. It was going to be my last act before I left town. I'd run into Jessica earlier that day. I could tell something was bothering her. I finally got the truth. Mike was still beating on her. She tried to make excuses for him. She said she loved him. It was the same crap I heard from Renee all those years. I couldn't take it anymore. I guess I snapped.

"But, yeah, I was also scared shitless when I saw you there. You were looking at me like you wanted to eat me, blood on your face, your eyes glowing red. What was I supposed to say? I was scared of you and I was drawn to you at the same time."

She circled her arms around his waist and rested her head on his chest. "And now I have you," she said, hugging him tighter. "We just need to figure out how to handle this. How to handle us. How we can be together."

Edward tensed up. He knew he needed to do something. He couldn't condemn Bella to a life with him. To a life with a monster. He cared about her too much for that.

He braced himself for the lie he was about to tell. It would be the most unselfish act he'd committed since he was turned so long ago. He broke their embrace.

"There is no us, Bella," he said, "and there never will be. Get that through your thick skull. I am a vampire. I could kill you at any moment. I have come close already. You are in mortal danger anytime you're near me. You'd be better off with protection from the Cullens.

"And what about Charlie? He's worried about you. Staying out late every night, never telling him where you've been. Besides," he said, taking a deep breath, "I don't want you, anyway. I don't want any of this."

He stormed off toward the woods. He heard Bella calling after him, but he paid her no mind. He knew it was best this way. He would leave the Cullens, for her sake. The civilized vampires could deal with the Volturi for her. Aro and his minions would probably catch up with him, eventually. But it was a price he was willing to pay if it kept Bella safe.

As he headed into town to do the inevitable, to kill one last time before going on the run, he heard Alice's high-pitched shriek: "Oh no. This changes everything."

He picked up his pace. At this late hour, he knew, most of Forks would be closed up and silent. He wasn't sure where he'd be able to find a victim.

The gas station, he thought. Where it all started. It was staffed twenty four hours a day.

He headed for the highway, ignoring the inner voice that was telling him to stop and turn back. That he was about to throw away everything. His head told him this was the right thing to do, despite what his heart felt.

When he reached the road, he slowed down. It was one thing to vow to return to his true nature. But drawing unnecessary attention by blasting past speeding cars was quite another. Whoever was clerking tonight would wait.

He walked down the center of the road, determined. His steel-toed boots clomped one after another on the double yellow line. He reached for his cigarettes and realized that he was still shirtless and without his coat. No matter, he thought. I won't be needing them anyway. The Volturi would catch him and do what they did. There was little use in pretending anymore.

The gas station's fluorescent glow stood just ahead. Edward moved to the side of the road and approached, his mind set.

"Wait. Please don't." Bella stood before him, flanked by Alice and Jasper. "Alice saw this, Edward. But it doesn't have to be this way. You can change. People change all the time."

Edward felt his anger brewing.

"You don't want to do this. Not now. Not when you're so close," Jasper said. He moved closer.

A calm overtook Edward that he couldn't explain. He probed Jasper's mind for a clue.

"Do not use your trickery on me," he said. "I've made up my mind."

"It's ok," Bella said. "We're here to help you."

"Dammit! I don't _want_ your help. Leave me alone. I need to do this. It's who I am, and nothing can change that."

"If that's what you really believe," Bella said, edging closer, looking him directly in the eyes, "then go into that gas station right now and do whatever you're going to do.

"But know this: If you do, you'll only be proving you're not the man I thought you were, Edward. It's your choice."

-30-

**A/N Can't you just picture Edward with mountain lion fur in his teeth? The image cracks me up. And Bella? Jeez, who knew she was even more badass than we thought? I'm a little scared of her. But I'm glad she finally kissed him. It took her long enough. But things are rough for Edward, that's for sure. He wants to do the right thing, but how does he figure out what that is?**

**I hope you like what I'm doing with this story. I wish I could update more than once a week, but the full-time job, the kids, the house, the lawn, blah blah etc. Anyway, if you like it, please leave a review. It'll make me feel like all the hard work is worth it. ;)**

**Finally, MazzyStarla's ideas are as important to this story as Bella's bad attitude is. She's an awesome beta.**


	14. Chapter 14

"Edward, would you mind sitting and talking for a moment? As you've probably surmised, the ladies are getting ready upstairs. Emmett and Jasper are out, procuring dinner."

Carlisle motioned toward the sofa.

Edward closed the front door and took a seat. He heard Alice's shrieks upstairs as she, Bella and Rosalie got dressed for the evening. It was to be a celebration of him going almost an entire month without feeding on a human. He'd been dreading it. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd been out with a group of people. Since before he was turned, certainly.

"I regret that this is our first chance to talk," Carlisle said. He smiled warmly. "You've shown extraordinary strength, doing as well as you've done. Your display of restraint outside the gas station was remarkable, I'm told. Jasper is impressed. And he doesn't impress easily."

"Can we cut the chit-chat, Dr. Cullen?" Edward pulled at the collar of his tee-shirt. "With all due respect, what is it you want to say to me?"

"Our truce with the Volturi," Carlisle said. "It's complicated. Aro and I have known one another for centuries. Let's just say there's no love lost between us."

Edward shifted in his seat. He scanned Carlisle's mind. It was nothing but a jumble of words and broken images.

"It comes down to this, Edward. The Volturi and my family share the same goal: Coexistence with humans. We all realize that to be in the open isn't an option. We'd either be hunted and slaughtered as a species, or we'd be forced to turn the main food supply into competitors. Under such a scenario, of course, vampires would quickly outnumber humans. Eventually, there'd be nothing left to feed on but livestock and wild animals. That's not sufficient to support an expanded vampire population. The bottom line is, we would cease to exist as a species. We would all starve to death.

"Although we agree on the goal, Aro and I differ on how we go about achieving it. While he and the council believe it's natural to continue to feed on humans, however discretely, we've come to the realization that doing so presents too much of a danger to our kind.

"We were on the verge of battle several centuries ago, long before your time. But we worked out what has come to be an uneasy agreement: The Volturi would act as a quasi-police force in our world, disciplining vampires who present a danger, who risk exposing us all through carelessness. Or worse."

Edward bristled.

"My family and I would seek to change vampire culture from within. We, as a species, are perfectly capable of surviving on animal blood, as you have come to know in this last month. So long as we don't overpopulate the planet. We believe it's not only the right way to live, but it's the only way to ensure our long-term survival.

"This is where you come in."

"How so?" Edward asked. "As of tomorrow, I'll be done with my required month. Can't I move on now? Am I not a free man?"

Carlisle smiled uncomfortably. "You have a history with the Volturi, do you not? With Aro, specifically?"

Edward rose from his chair. "You've been in contact with him. About me? My past? How dare you."

"Calm down, please," Carlisle said. "Aro told me nothing specific, I assure you. But I've known the man for quite a long time, Edward. He isn't difficult to read, even without your extraordinary ability. He seemed quite interested in you. Too interested." He phrased this last part almost like a question.

Edward tried to force the memory away, but it was too late. It seeded in his mind and he knew it would continue to grow there all night if he didn't give it some release.

"I struggled, after I was turned. For years, Carlisle. My initial plans didn't work out. As I've said, I thought I could kill only the vile, the depraved. But it turned out that when you can see a man's every thought, everyone is evil.

"And so I went on a rampage that lasted longer than most human lives. I'd heard of the Volturi, of course. Who hasn't? I was aware of the council's policing authority. But I didn't care. I killed whomever I wanted, whenever I wanted. I terrorized small towns and big cities alike. Newspaper headlines followed me across the country. Serial killers got blamed for many of my deeds.

"I laughed it off. I saw it as my right, killing humans. It was my revenge for what had been done to me. To a certain extent, I still see it that way."

He sat back down on the sofa and unconsciously rubbed the scar on his cheek.

"But everything changed about twenty years ago. I could no longer be indiscriminate. Eventually, I noticed that the Volturi would sometimes show up not long after I'd left some town or another. Soon, they began showing up before I'd had my fill. Because of my ability, I was always able to stay ahead of them.

"But for the life of me, I couldn't figure out how they knew. How they'd become so successful at finding me."

"It was the Internet," Carlisle said.

"Yes," Edward replied. "I'd been so wrapped up in my world for all those years, I wasn't more than superficially aware of its existence. But by the mid-1990s, virtually every newspaper in America had a website. Stories of murder and mayhem got the clicks, so to speak. The reading public ate it up."

"As did the Volturi," Carlisle said.

"Indeed. It made finding rogues like me easy."

Edward put his head in his hands and sighed. He heard Emmett and Jasper enter through the back door, but they knew enough to respect Edward's privacy. They simply nodded as they passed, and headed upstairs.

"When they sent James, the tracker, I thought I could outsmart him," Edward continued. "I'd always been able to use my mind to stay one step ahead.

"But he was too good. He found me, and he summoned backup. Felix, Jane, even Aro himself showed up."

"What did they do to you?"

"Aro put his hands on me while Felix held me down. I'll never forget his words: 'That is the saddest memory I have ever had the fortune to behold,' he told me. 'It is quite delicious.'

"He relished my pain, Carlisle. The sick fuck insisted I join them. I laughed in his face, of course. They tortured me. Weeks. Months. I don't know how much time passed. The truth is, I don't even remember all the details. It wasn't the first time I wished I were dead, but up until then, I don't think I really meant it.

"After they let me go, with a promise to keep an eye on me, I knew I had to change. It was simple self-preservation. I learned to cover my tracks. I learned not to stay in one place too long. I kept the cops away by making sure I left no evidence. I avoided the press at all costs, even going so far as to carry the corpses of my victims on my shoulders as I left town in the middle of the night. Sometimes, I'd carry them a hundred miles through darkness before I found a safe place to dispose of them.

"And it's worked for me, this new lifestyle. Until I got here." Edward paused. "I became careless. Distracted. One thing led to another, and I guess you know the rest."

He took in a breath and sighed. "Looking back on it all, I do know this: I shed no tears when Bella got rid of Felix."

"Are you talking about me again, Edward?"

Bella strode down the stairway with a smirk on her face. She wore black leggings, a long, form-fitting tee-shirt and a jean jacket that was buttoned at her waist. She'd ditched the black Converse in favor of black heels.

Edward stood up and simply stared, hardly noticing Alice and Rosalie following Bella down the stairs.

Carlisle stood and leaned toward Edward. "She is a vision, Edward. Remember that. It will help you get through the hard times. You've shown before that you're capable of changing your ways. Let's prove that you can do it again."

Bella walked up to Edward and hooked her arm through his. She reached up and kissed him on the cheek as the other couples gathered near the door. She wiped a smudge of lipstick from Edward's face with her thumb. He frowned. "Don't worry," she whispered in his ear as she moved her hand down to his chest. "It comes off easily. That'll come in handy later."

He was about to reply when Carlisle spoke. "Shall we go?"

Bella pulled Edward out the door, and he had to admit, he had butterflies in his stomach. He realized he was actually looking forward to having a good time. Remarkable.

The bar and restaurant was only a ten-minute drive into town. They loaded up into Carlisle's GMC Yukon Denali, a huge, luxurious SUV. Once they arrived, they crowded into a booth near the back, away from most of the Friday night crowd.

Alice jumped up seconds after taking her seat. "Who wants to dance? Edward? Bella?"

Edward pretended not to hear her. Alice rolled her eyes.

"I'll dance with you, Alice," Bella said. She scooted past Edward, brushing her backside across his lap. When she was out of the booth, she turned back toward him and smiled. "Lighten up. We're here for you, Edward. To celebrate you." She leaned over and put her forehead against his. "I'm going to make sure you have a good time tonight," she whispered against his lips. "Whether you like it or not."

She walked onto the dance floor, where Alice was already moving to the music. Bella sneaked up behind her and put her hands on Alice's waist. They moved together, their hips swaying, Alice's hands running through her short hair.

Edward worried, in spite of himself. He noticed the men in the bar starting to pay attention to them. He didn't like attention.

"I'm going to stop them," he said, getting up for the table.

"Relax, Edward. Let them have their fun," Jasper said. Edward sat back down. "Alice has been waiting fifty years for a girlfriend like Bella." He moved in closer, smiling as he whispered. "Rose doesn't quite fit the bill."

Rosalie and Emmett were lost in their own world, Edward noticed. They weren't paying any attention.

He was still uneasy. He began scanning random thoughts in the room, on the lookout for danger. It was a habit that had served him well. He saw no reason to abandon it now.

Someone was thinking about Bella. Who? He looked around.

Jessica Stanley. She was with a whole group of underage kids. Most of them looked half-drunk. Some were way beyond that.

Edward focused as Bella and Alice kept dancing. One of the guys with Jessica leaned in to talk to her.

"What's got your panties in a wad?" Edward heard him say.

"Fucking bitch," Jessica said. "I know she knows what happened to Mike. She was trying to get me to leave him. She was making up a bunch of stories about Mike. Probably wanted him for herself."

"You should do something about it," the guy sitting with her said. Edward knew he was Tyler Crowley, another recent Forks High graduate. He was nearly as tall as Edward, about six feet one, with tan skin and an athletic build.

"Like what, Tyler?" Jessica said. "I mean, her dad's the fucking police chief. Even if she did have something to do with it, there's no way anybody'll do anything about it."

"We could do something about it ourselves. Mike was a good friend."

Jessica laughed. "Yeah, sure. I'll just ask her and she'll be honest with me. Tell me right where to find his body."

"I'm sure I could persuade her, if I have to."

Jessica gave Tyler a devious smile.

"But what about that group she came in with? I don't know who they are, but the big guy looks like he could be dangerous."

"Don't worry about them," Tyler said. "I'll take care of the tall one in the coat. My boys can handle the big guy and the other one. You deal with Bella."

Edward knew it was time to go. He walked up to Bella and Alice, concerned.

"We have to leave," he said.

"Oh, don't be such a party-pooper, Eddie," Bella said. She grabbed his hands and pulled him to her. He resisted, but she wrapped her arms around his neck and planted a kiss on his mouth.

Edward pulled away. "I'm glad you're having fun, Bella. I really am. But we need to go. Now." He nodded toward Jessica and her group. "They're talking about confronting you. They think you had something to do with Mike's disappearance."

Bella laughed. "What are they gonna do? Arrest me?"

"I think they mean to do you harm."

"He's right, Bella," Alice said. "We should go. We can continue the party at home. It'll be fun."

They gathered up everyone else and headed outside. Jessica and her friends were there already.

"You don't want to do this," Emmett said, stepping between the two groups.

Jasper went for the car. Edward knew they would need to make a quick escape before things escalated. The last thing they needed was a fight with a bunch of drunks.

"You fucking whore!" Jessica screamed, throwing her beer at Bella. Edward caught the mug in mid-air and crushed it in his hand. Glass shards rained onto the pavement.

No one spoke for half a minute.

"No more," Edward said, calmly staring at Jessica. "You will leave, and you will live another day. Do you understand?"

Jessica stammered in response. "Yeah. We'll go. We'll go now."

"Fuck that," Tyler said, awkwardly stepping forward. "She owes us some answers."

"You don't want to continue," Edward said. "Trust me."

"And who the fuck are you?" the boy said. He stumbled forward, so drunk he could hardly stand up straight. Emmett caught him before he hit the ground. Edward could tell Emmett was being careful not to hurt him.

Tyler twisted free and swung at Edward. Edward automatically ducked the punch, only to see it connect squarely with Bella's face.

An animal instinct took over then. Edward was not in control of what happened next. Before he knew it, before Bella had even hit the ground, Edward had already returned the punch. He was as surprised as anyone else when it landed on Tyler's face. He hit the teen so hard, he felt Tyler's orbital bone shatter. He collapsed to the ground at exactly the moment Edward caught Bella before she hit the concrete.

"Holy shit! You killed him!" Jessica screamed. Chaos ensued. The rest of the crowd ran, some into the parking lot, others back inside the bar.

Carlisle bent over the unconscious teenager as Jasper skidded the Denali to a stop at the curb.

"Get in," Carlisle said, looking at Edward. "Now. Take them back to the cabin. I have to help this boy."

He remained bent over Tyler as Edward carried Bella to the Yukon. Everyone else had already piled inside.

Edward's last vision as the car pulled away was of Carlisle giving CPR to Tyler.

If Tyler died, Edward realized, the Volturi would have every reason to come after him.

-30-

**A/N I'm going to take this opportunity to write a way-too-long author's note so I can thank each and every one of you who's reviewed my story. I simply can't believe so many of you like what I'm doing here. To reach 700-plus reviews without a hint of a lemon anywhere? I'm blown away.**

**On that note, I need to tell you this: It's become really hard for me to reply to every review, as I've been doing from the beginning. It's taking away my writing time, which I don't want. I write the vast majority of this story on my phone over my lunch hour. So, I've decided to stop replying to every review. From now on, I'll only reply if you have a question, or if there's something else specific in the review that I think needs replying to.**

**But please know this: I cherish every single review I get. I mean that.**

**Now, as for the story. Holy shit! Can you believe it? Edward finally seemed like he was on the right path, and some jerk comes in and screws it all up for him. What do you think is going to happen now? Poor Edward. I have a feeling he might be meeting Aro again one day. Soon.**


	15. Chapter 15

Edward ripped the door from its hinges as he burst into the cabin.

"Fuck fuck fuck!"

No one said a word.

He pounded his fists on the table, cracking it right down the middle. He put his head in his hands and sat down.

Alice stepped forward while the rest of the family stayed outside, waiting for Carlisle to get back. "Nothing's happened yet," she said. "Besides, even if he dies, you were acting in self-defense. It wasn't your fault. You were defending the woman you love, Edward. That's never wrong. It was just an accident."

"There is no such thing as accident; it is fate misnamed."

"What's that mean?"

"Napoleon. It means there _are_ no accidents. It means that I am who I am. There's no point in trying to deny it."

"It'll be OK," Bella said. A bruise was forming on her cheek where Tyler had hit her. She approached Edward, put one arm around his shoulders and rested her head on his. "Dr. Cullen might be able to save him. Maybe he won't die."

"You don't know," he said. "You don't know what it's like to feel a man's life leech away under your fist. I do. Tyler is already dead. There's nothing Carlisle or anyone else can do about it."

"But you didn't mean to hurt him," she said. "That has to count for something."

Edward laughed and stood up. "Do you really think that'll make a difference? Aro won't care. He has no sense of right and wrong left. He is a sadistic son of a bitch. He'll point to the agreement and he'll rightly note that I've broken it.

"He's hated me for years. He'll do anything he can to get back at me for not joining his council. He'll either make me join or kill me. That's the reality."

Bella rubbed his back with the palm of her hand.

"They'll find out soon," he said. "The longer I stay here, the more danger I put you in." He stopped and looked toward the broken front door, knowing the Cullens were listening. "All of you."

"What's that mean?" Bella asked, her voice rising in pitch. "What? You're going to leave? Just like that?"

"It's not as easy as you make it sound," he said. "But there is nothing anyone can do. It's the only way to make sure you're safe, and it doesn't have to be forever. The Volturi will come. Soon. There is no doubt about that. There were dozens of witnesses. Word will get back to them. The more attention that gets drawn to you, the more danger you're in."

"We can protect you." Carlisle walked through the front door. He motioned for the rest of them to remain outside.

"That's bullshit and you know it," Edward said. "You said it yourself, Carlisle. You and Aro don't get along. You have an uneasy peace. I can't risk shattering that. There will be no war on my account."

He read Carlisle's thoughts and knew what he was going to say next. He'd known it already, anyway.

"I couldn't save Tyler. No one could," Carlisle said. "I had to leave when the police arrived. Before they could question me."

"Charlie," Bella said.

"Yes. I think it would be best if he heard an explanation from you, Bella. The crowd did not seem disposed to paint you and your new friends in a sympathetic light."

"Shit," she said. "How can I explain any of this? I definitely can't tell him the truth. Fairy tales about vampires? He'd have me locked up. Maybe I could say, 'Oh, dad, my boyfriend is a nice guy. Sure, he's killed three people, but they were _bad_ people. And one of them was _totally_ in self-defense.'

"Not only would he have me locked up, he'd probably disown me."

Carlisle stood quietly by. The look on his face revealed that he was deep in thought. Edward scanned his mind and smiled.

"That's not a bad idea, Carlisle," he said.

"What's not a bad idea?" Alice replied.

"Why don't you tell them, Carlisle?"

Carlisle hesitated. "It is disquieting to have you reading my mind in my own home, Edward. But I will forgive you. I imagine one cannot possess such a gift without giving in to what must be a crushing desire to use it."

Alice called everyone else inside.

"Quit stalling, Carlisle, and tell us what you're thinking," she said.

"Well." He cleared his throat. "What if Edward _did_ leave?"

Bella began to speak up, but Alice shushed her with a look.

Edward leaned in, ready to hear Carlisle's plan put into words.

"We have scores of safe houses like this one all over the world. He could reside in one, for a while, then move on if he sensed someone getting close. We'd have to tell the Volturi something, of course. Perhaps -"

"Tell them the truth," Edward said. "Or a version of it, anyway. Tell them that I snapped and killed this boy and then I took off. You have no idea where I went. Tell them I went rogue."

"It won't work," Alice said. "Aro can read all of our memories, remember? He'll know about this very conversation."

Edward smiled. "But I won't tell you where I'm going. I would move from house to house, always staying a step ahead. He'll never find me. I'm quite good at hiding. I've learned how to deal with the likes of Demetri and James."

"But what about me? Us?" Bella said. "How long would you be gone? And why can't I come with you?"

"Bella. We can't. I can't. You belong here, with your family. I won't take you away from that."

"Now who's talking bullshit? Huh? I'm an adult, Edward. I hardly know Charlie, anyway. We don't talk. I was on my way out of this place when you showed up. Remember that? You're the only reason I'm still here. If you leave, I'm coming with you. I have nothing left here. I never really did."

"Charlie loves you more than you know," Edward said. "You have no right to do that to him."

They glared at one another.

"Well," Alice said, soundly falsely chipper, "I have sooo much to do. Outside. With everyone else." She made eye contact, one-by-one. "Let's go."

They left Edward and Bella alone.

"Are you serious?" Edward asked. "You'd really want to come with me, spend the rest of your life on the road? Never see Charlie again? Never see Forks?"

"If it means I get to stay with you," she said, edging closer, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, "then yes."

Edward put his arms around her waist and kissed the top of her head. He took in her scent, remembering the powerful urge it caused the first time he smelled it. He didn't want to imagine living without it.

"Despite myself, I want you to come, Bella." He smiled into her hair. "I can't explain it. But I can't spend my life without you. I'll do whatever it takes."

"It's crazy, isn't it?" she said. "I wouldn't _let_ you leave without me. From now on, I go where you go. Deal?"

"It'll be dangerous, you know. Life on the road isn't easy. And for a human? There are so many reasons to be concerned. The Volturi chief among them. The moment it's known that I've taken a human, they'll double their efforts to find me. Involving a human in our affairs is breaking the Volturi's cardinal rule.

"If you think what Felix did to me was unpleasant, I hope you never have the misfortune of meeting Jane." He shuddered thinking about her, a vampire whose gift allowed her to cause immeasurable pain simply by looking at someone. She gave the term "bitch-face" a whole new meaning.

"Don't worry about me," she said, smirking. "I can take care of myself." She reached up and kissed him on the mouth, and Edward finally let her in. He parted his lips and searched for her tongue with his.

Bella broke away laughing. "God, it's so cold!"

"I've been dead for nearly a hundred years," he said, laughing. "It makes no sense, I know. Vampires, somehow, seem to break the second law of thermodynamics. We're not exactly alive, and yet we live. We move about, and yet we generate no heat."

"You are so fucking weird, Edward." She laughed and embraced him once more.

"I know I've brought it up before, and you refused," she said. "But maybe we could talk about making me like you. I'd be safer on the road. We wouldn't have to worry so much about the Volturi finding us. And besides, I have a theory."

Edward broke away. "I wouldn't do that to my worst enemy. I've never turned a human, and I certainly won't start now. Not with you."

"Don't you want to hear my theory first, before you make any rash decisions."

"No. I'm not the one talking about rash decisions. The matter is settled. I won't turn you into a vampire, Bella. End of discussion."

"We'll see," she said. "But I get it. I really do. So, let's talk about where we're going. What should I pack? How will we travel? How long will it take to get there? How long will we stay?"

"Slow down. We're not leaving just yet. You have to say goodbye to Charlie. And you have to make it believable. The last thing we need is an APB out on us. The FBI, your mugshot on billboards all over the country. Fuck, CNN, for Christ's sake."

She smiled wide and flung her arms out, twisting in a circle as she flailed around the room.

"We're really gonna do it, aren't we? I can't believe it, Edward. Two months ago I was ready to end it all. But now? Even with a pack of vampires after me, even though I won't be able to see Charlie again, I can't imagine a better life. A life with you. It's like a dream come true."

Bella invited everyone back inside.

"So it appears that you've come to a decision?" Carlisle said once they told him their plans. "Are you sure that's wise?"

"We'll be fine," Edward said firmly, cutting off any further discussion. "I'll make the arrangements. Bella will go see Charlie. Would it be possible for one of you to accompany her, discreetly, in case the Volturi show up? I don't think it's a good idea for me to be in public right now."

"I'd be glad to do it," Emmett said.

Bella practically squealed. "It's late. I should get home. I have to pack, and I have to talk to Charlie."

"What are you going to tell him?" Alice asked.

"Don't worry," Bella said. "I know exactly how to push his buttons."

Edward said goodbye to her on the front porch. He kissed her deeply and watched as she and Emmett drove away in the Denali. He hoped that Charlie believed whatever story Bella came up with, but he knew that was unlikely. Charlie didn't strike him as that naive. No. He was a dedicated cop, smart and resourceful. A war veteran, Bella had said. And a loving father who'd already seen his daughter suffer immeasurable trauma.

The likelihood was that Charlie would never give up the search. Edward knew that he would be branded a murderer and a kidnapper, whether it happened immediately or after the investigation grew. Maybe Charlie would dig up security footage from the bar. He'd plaster Edward's photograph all over town. The networks would pick it up. Not only would he spend eternity on the run from the Volturi, but he'd have to elude the police, as well. Before long, one or the other would track them down.

For Bella's sake, he hoped it would be the police.

He and Bella would be better off, he grudgingly realized, if he disposed of Charlie before leaving town.

-30-

**A/N I'll keep it short and simple this time. MazzyStarla makes the world go 'round. Edward is off his fucking rocker. And Bella might have finally found a pair of rose-colored glasses. Let's hope they don't blind her to reality. **

**Until next time ... **


	16. Chapter 16

Edward clasped his hands together and got up from the sofa for the tenth time in the last hour.

"Just go," Alice said. "You're not doing anyone any good here."

"Emmett is perfectly capable of protecting her. I know that. It's too risky for me to be out in public."

He'd been holding off making a decision about Charlie. He didn't want Alice to see anything. But the more he thought about it, the worse the idea of killing him sounded. Sure, it would get rid of one problem, but it would cause even more. A dead police chief would attract attention from the state and the feds. Besides, he knew Bella would crumble, despite her tough persona. He couldn't live with himself if he did that to her.

As he lost himself in thought, Alice walked up to him and put one hand on his shoulder. She turned his head toward her and looked him in the eye. "Edward. You may not see what's going on here, but it's perfectly clear to me." She paused and raised her eyebrows. "You're in _love_, silly boy. Believe me, sitting around and fidgeting on the sofa isn't going to put your mind at rest. So go. Sit in the woods with Emmett and watch over her house. He'll appreciate the company. We're going to our place in Jackson Hole after this. There's not much companionship there."

Edward sighed. "You're right, you know. About everything."

He pulled at the lapels of his coat, checked his pockets to be sure he had everything he needed. His cell phone, his chain, an extra pack of smokes and the Zippo.

"You'll tell Carlisle I said thank you?"

"Get out of here," Alice said, a huge smile plastered across her face. "We'll see you again. I can't see it yet, because you haven't decided where you're going, but I can _feel_ it, Edward. You can tell him yourself when we all meet again."

Edward was ready to move on from Forks. He was ready to start the next phase of his life, whatever it may be. He found himself feeling optimistic for the first time in decades. He knew it didn't make sense, not with the Volturi after him. But Bella. He'd somehow fallen for her. He had to admit, he liked her attitude. He smiled when he thought about how she was the first person he'd known since he was turned who had the guts to see him as something other than a threat. She wasn't afraid, even though she probably should be.

Being with her made him feel almost human again, not the monster he'd grown used to being.

He walked slowly through the woods, enjoying what he knew would probably be the last peaceful night of his life for some time. As he neared Bella's house, he found Emmett by searching for his thoughts. The big bear of a vampire had chosen a spot near the rear of the house, not with a direct view of Bella's bedroom window, but one which afforded a more complete picture of the whole property.

"Any activity?"

"Nada," Emmett said. "She went straight up to her room. Didn't even talk to her dad. Since then, it's been quieter than a whorehouse full of Presbyterians on Easter Sunday, dude."

Edward looked at the house. Everything appeared serene. He scanned for Charlie's thoughts, only to find that he was asleep, dreaming about the war again. He was frustrated once again that he couldn't read Bella's mind. He had no real way of knowing if she was safe.

"I'm going to head down there. Take a look around," he told Emmett.

"Sure thing, man," Emmett said with a smile. "I'll hold the fort down up here."

Edward jimmied the sliding glass door on the rear deck and slipped in quietly. He was glad to see that Bella was asleep. She would need to be well rested for their trip.

His curiosity got the better of him, and he headed for Charlie's room. He wasn't sure why, but he was drawn there. He didn't even pause to scan for Charlie's thoughts. He twisted the knob slowly and eased the door open. The room was pitch black. Even with his superior eyesight, he couldn't make anything out.

He stepped carefully toward where he thought the bed might be. He stopped and inhaled sharply when he heard a click and felt cold steel pressed to the skin under his right ear.

"It's Edward, isn't it?"

"Yes."

Charlie flipped a light switch. "Have a seat, Edward." He nodded toward the bed. Edward hesitated. The barrel pressed in tighter and he heard Charlie's heartbeat speed up. He knew he could disarm Charlie and put him down before he knew what had happened, but the truth was that he respected the man's bravery. That must be where Bella got it from. Edward was curious where this was going, so he sat. He knew he was in no danger from a small caliber weapon, no matter what it was loaded with.

Charlie remained standing, two feet away. He kept the gun high, aiming with both hands.

"You're going to answer some questions. Do you understand?"

Edward nodded.

"Did you kill Mike Newton, Waylon Forge and Tyler Crowley?

Edward said nothing. He bit his lip and contemplated what he should say. He knew he couldn't lie. Charlie surely had it figured out already.

"Answer me. Right now."

"Yes," Edward said. "You'll find Newton's body about two miles from here, to the west."

Charlie paused. "Did you come here to kill me?"

"No."

"To kill Bella?"

"I would never hurt Bella."

"Then why are you in my house? In my bedroom?"

"The truth, sir?" He sighed. "I'm not really sure."

"You had better start talking, young man. Because my trigger finger's getting twitchy." He leveled the gun at Edward's forehead and tightened his grip.

Edward moved quickly. He took the gun from Charlie's hands and ejected the magazine. He slid the chamber back and popped the remaining bullet out, catching it in the air. He clicked the safety on and slid the now unloaded gun back into Charlie's hands before the chief had reacted.

"A bit of advice," Edward said, moving toward the door. "Get the shotgun. Load it with the armor piercing rounds. And take this, Charlie." He flipped his Zippo into the air. "You never know when you might need it."

Edward was gone before Charlie caught the lighter in mid-air. He cursed himself for being so foolish. He should have realized Charlie was awake. But whenever he was near Bella, his mind-reading power seemed to go on the fritz. It either got fuzzy or he'd simply forget to use it. He wasn't sure if it was because she distracted him, or something other reason.

Emmett was sitting on a downed tree when he returned to their spot in the woods.

"How's it going down there? All's well, I assume."

"She's asleep."

Too late, Edward heard movement in the woods behind him. Emmett apparently heard it too, because he jumped up from a crouch and spun around quickly. Edward's instinct was to run for Bella's house, but he stopped himself. He needed to gauge the potential threat first.

"If it isn't the gentle Edward Anthony Masen," a voice rang out from the darkness.

Edward turned to Emmett. "Go! Now! Get her _out_ of there."

Emmett was a blur in the trees.

"Aro," Edward said. He read two others. Jane and Demetri, the tracker. They joined their leader, flanking him on either side.

"Tsk tsk," Aro said. "One should not agree to follow a set of rules one is incapable of comprehending, Mr. Masen. You are no humble _vegetarian_." He began to laugh, as if the very concept of a vegetarian vampire were humorous.

"What is it you want, Aro? Or have you come all this way simply to mock me?"

"Ooh, so _sensitive_."

He flipped his long coat outward with a dramatic flair. His eyes glowed bright red against his pure white skin. He kept his jet-black hair slicked back, forming a prominent widow's peak on his forehead. The whole picture brought to mind some forgotten Dracula movie. Edward would have laughed under different circumstances.

"You have no business here, Aro. Leave me be and I'll go on my way. You'll never hear from me again. That's a guarantee."

"Oh, it's a guarantee this time? Let me just pack up my bags and go then."

He turned as if to leave, but spun back around dramatically.

"Except, well, I seem to remember a similar promise some years back, Mr. Masen. It seems you have trouble keeping your promises."

He put his hands out in front of him, palms up. "Or is it me? Am I perhaps too harsh in my judgment? Are my standards too high? Poor Mr. Masen. He's been entrapped by the evil overlord! Oh, what a tragedy!" He cackled in hideous laughter, rearing his head back. It echoed through the forest like some sort of sick mating call.

Jane smirked. Demetri snorted. Edward said nothing.

"Be that as it may," Aro continued, "the rules, however harsh you may consider them, are there for good reason. I can't have any old vamp _disregard _them simply because it is convenient. No. That won't do."

Aro rubbed his chin, theatrically furrowing his brow and sighing heavily.

"I suppose I _could_ offer a compromise. Let it never be said that I am not a compassionate dictator." He smiled and pursed his lips. "Yes, then. A compromise."

He turned to Demetri. "You will get the girl. The _human._ And you-"

Edward lunged forward, but Jane fixed him with a look. He collapsed in pain, his hands instinctively going to his head.

"I was not finished, Mr. Masen. You must learn your manners." He turned to Jane. "You will hold our ill-tempered friend here while I contemplate my options."

Edward struggled to speak. "I'll do whatever you ask, Aro. Just leave Bella alone!"

"The human has a _name_? Oh, how delightful. Bella the Beautiful!"

He bent over Edward, who was still crouched down in obvious pain. Aro put a hand on Edward's chin and lifted his head.

"The law is perfectly clear, is it not?"

Aro looked around the forest, as if he expected some response from the trees.

"Humans shall know nothing of our existence. It is the first law, Mr. Masen." He bent further and whispered in Edward's ear. "And don't tell anyone I said so, for we can't have people disregarding the rule of law, but it is really the only law that matters."

Screaming rang out from the direction of Bella's house. Edward struggled to move, but he couldn't.

It sounded, to Edward's astonishment, like Demetri. More noise. The sounds of a struggle. Glass shattered. Wood cracked. There was an explosion of gunfire. Edward knew that sound. It was Charlie's shotgun.

Aro perked up. Jane lost her train of thought, freeing Edward. The three of them ran for the house.

They arrived to find Demetri's corpse sprawled across the front yard, his head upside down on the hood of Bella's pickup. Emmett lay on the porch, a hole in his gut the size of a basketball.

"Sorry, dude," he said through gritted teeth. "I killed the tracker, but I didn't plan on a _human _with military hardware."

Charlie stood behind them both, the shotgun ready. The front door sat askew on its hinges and glass littered the porch. Emmett's wound was already healing, but he would need a few minutes before he'd be able to function again.

Edward put himself between Emmett and Charlie, while Aro and Jane bent over Demetri's decaying corpse, obviously upset.

"Where's Bella?" Edward screamed.

"Now hold on there, Edward. I don't know what-"

Edward was in his face immediately. He put his hand over the end of the shotgun. "Tell me where she is. She's in more danger right now than you can possibly imagine."

Aro stood up and brushed debris from his pants. "Our mutual acquaintance is correct, sir. Charles, is it?"

Edward stepped forward, while Charlie moved the shotgun in Aro's direction. "I don't know where she is, Edward," Charlie said, keeping his eyes on Aro. "I went to get her when I heard trouble coming, figuring it was you, but she's not in her room. She disappeared."

He looked around at the scene in front of his house and shook his head. "Now, before we go any further, will someone please tell me what the hell is going on?"

-30-

**A/N Well that was fun. But where the hell is Bella? And what must Charlie be thinking right now? And Aro? He's crazier than I thought he'd be. What a nutjob.**

**Thanks, as always, to MazzyStarla for her wisdom. And thanks to all who've reviewed, followed, or faved for validating my existence. ;) Y'all rule. **


	17. Chapter 17

Edward froze. He looked Charlie in the eye and shook his head slowly, mouthing the words "not now." Explanations would have to come later.

His coat flowed outward in the light breeze, effectively hiding his hands from Aro and Jane, who remained behind him in Charlie's front yard.

Charlie stood in the doorway gripping the shotgun, its barrel at a downward forty-five-degree angle.

Edward followed the barrel with his eyes and continued on, to Emmett, who'd moved to the porch steps. His shotgun wound had begun to close. A few more minutes and he'd be on his feet.

Everything was still for a moment. Peaceful. Edward knew it would not last.

He used the silence to scan Aro's mind. As he suspected, the Volturi leader was planning to kill them all. There was no other choice, really. They'd seen too much, done too much damage for Aro to let it go. A tracker was dead, humans had learned the truth. He would lose all credibility in the vampire world if he did not act swiftly and harshly. The Volturi would crumble.

Edward closed his eyes and concentrated. He breathed in deeply and exhaled. The ritual, though unnecessary, helped him relax. The next few moments would determine his fate, and he would need to keep a level head.

Jane moved first. In the split second that Edward began to feel pain, he cocked the shotgun, still in Charlie's hands. He yanked it an inch toward him while pointing the barrel behind him. The movement caused Charlie's trigger finger to flinch. The gun fired. Jane shrieked and went down.

The world slowed down. The scent of the woods filled the air. Edward heard the rapid beating of Charlie's heart, the swirl of the wind through the trees. His head pounded. He watched Charlie's eyes grow bigger as the chief finally began to react to the shotgun blast. His mouth opened. Wrinkles formed on his forehead and his shoulders tightened.

Edward pulled the shotgun away from Charlie and spun around, cocking and firing repeatedly until the gun fired no more. He let out a war cry as Aro tumbled into him. The two men became one, barreling into Charlie on their way over the edge of the porch. The shotgun went flying and they crashed through the railing, thudding to the ground.

Edward came up first. He put his hands around Aro's neck and squeezed with everything he had. He heard bones snap. Still he squeezed harder.

Aro smacked his forehead into Edward's nose, crushing it and temporarily blinding him. Edward released his grip and staggered back.

Aro jumped on him. He put his knee into Edward's gut, wrapped his big hands around Edward's throat. Edward tried to pull Aro's arms from him, but Aro was too strong. He kicked hard upward and was able to lock his feet around Aro's head from behind. He pulled down with his legs. Aro had to let go of Edward's neck to free himself.

The two men stood and squared off. Aro moved his head from side to side, adjusting his neck as the bones Edward had broken healed themselves. He looked at Edward and smiled.

"This is going to be fun," he said. Two shotgun wounds in his body had also begun to heal. Edward's aim had been good, but not good enough. "I have not had the pleasure of personally decapitating a vampire of your skill level in quite some."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

They both looked to see who was talking. Charlie stood on the porch with the shotgun in one hand, pointed at Aro. He cocked it and held it low.

"Don't, Charlie. This is my battle." Edward saw that Emmett was nearly healed. He motioned for the big vamp to join him. "You up for this?"

"Whatever you need."

They separated, moving apart so they flanked the Volturi leader. Aro crouched down, ready for battle.

_Boom_.

The right side of Aro's head exploded. Charlie re-cocked the gun.

"If anyone's gonna do any more killing on my property it's gonna be me."

Still Aro stood. There was a massive hole in his forehead just above his eye. But it had already begun to heal. Charlie fired again. The round struck Aro in the chest. His body jerked, but stayed standing.

Aro attacked. Wounded though he was, he was still a beast. He was on Edward in a heartbeat. They tumbled to the ground together and resumed their grappling.

But the shotgun had weakened Aro. Edward took advantage. He gathered up his strength and got behind Aro, wrapping his arms around his neck. He put one hand under Aro's chin and the other behind his neck. He yanked up, hard, again and again and again. The aged vampire's head would not come off. _God damned vegetarian diet_, he thought. _It's weakened me._

Frenzied and desperate, Edward tossed Aro to the ground and stomped on his head. He heard nothing and he saw nothing except his enemy. Over and over he stomped. He purged the past and absolved himself of his sins in that stomping. He ceased thinking entirely. All he could do was destroy that which sought to destroy him until his steel-toed boots were slick with a black, viscous fluid.

"Dude! Edward! Stop. He's gone."

Edward snapped out of the coma-like state he was in. Emmett stood before him, his hands on Edward's shoulders.

Edward looked down at Aro, a pulpy black mess. He was thankful that Charlie listened to him and loaded the armor-piercing rounds. Aro's head was virtually gone. There was nothing left but bits of skull and black tissue; a gruesome puddle.

"I ain't never seen nothing like it." Charlie emerged from the shadows, cradling the gun. He shook his head and surveyed the scene. "Twenty years on the force. A stint in the war manning the fifty-cal. Eyeing prey though the scope, squeezing the trigger when it needed squeezing. Was in the Peace Corps in Somalia before that. Some of the most horrible trauma I've ever had the misfortune to witness, over there. I've seen my share of death and dismemberment, young man. But I've never -"

"I'm sorry, Charlie. I really am. But there's no time for explanations." Edward turned to Emmett. "Find Jane. I don't see her body anywhere. I must have wounded her, or she'd be terrorizing us all right now. She will heal, and she will come after you."

"What about you?"

"I've got to find Bella before the rest of the Volturi do."

Edward ran to Bella's pickup truck. He yanked the door open. Ripped wires from the steering column, twisted them together the way he'd been taught. The old beast roared to life. He slammed it in reverse and bounced over a curb on the way out.

In the rearview, Charlie stood in the middle of the road, the gun at his hip.

Edward felt sorry for the old guy. His world had been torn apart in the space of a few weeks, the only family he had left was missing, and now he'd helped one vampire murder another in the quiet of his front yard.

He was doomed.

As Edward sped away, he saw Charlie walk back to the yard. He bent over Aro's corpse. A moment later, flames rose. Black smoke filled the sky. He saw Charlie flip the Zippo into the air and stuff it into his pocket.

He had really done it. Good lord he'd done it. He had killed a three-thousand-year-old vampire, the leader of the world's vampires. If he thought his life was fucked before, he was dead wrong. He knew there was no way he'd ever get out of this. This was the absolute definition of fucked if there ever was one.

But Bella. She was all that mattered now. If she was with the Cullens, as he suspected, they were in trouble, too. Caius and Marcus, the other two leaders of the Volturi Council, would send reinforcements when they didn't hear back from Aro soon. They would get their best tracker. They would almost certainly kill Charlie and Emmett, and for that, Edward felt sorrow. He had grown to like both men.

But he wouldn't rest until he knew Bella was safe, even if it meant others had to die.

He made his way around Seattle on the state highways and picked up Interstate 90 an hour east of town. From there, it was a straight shot into Montana, and then a jag south through Idaho before heading over the Grand Tetons. It would take fifteen hours at the speed limit. He figured he could do it in twelve if the old truck didn't break down.

The drive gave him time to think, to plan, to ponder what he was doing.

Did he really believe he could change things? That he could change himself?

Everything he'd seen thus far backed up what he'd always believed. Manifest destiny was a dream. A scam. Society's way of mollifying the masses. It was no different than religion, in his mind. Each gave hope to the hopeless. Hope was for fools. A hundred years of sorrow had taught him that.

But a life without hope was also a life without fear. Edward had always been fearless. He knew he had to return to that state of mind if he was to survive beyond the next few days.

He was reminded of the words of Voltaire, the eighteenth century French philosopher. They had often brought him comfort in times of trouble.

_Each player must accept the cards life deals him or her. But once they are in hand, he or she alone must decide how to play the cards in order to win the game._

Life had dealt him a shitty hand. No one could dispute that. But only he could decide what to do with it. He was through following the rules, whether it be the Volturi's or the Cullens' or those the world around him tried to impose. Look where the rules had gotten him.

No more.

From this day on, he would return to being the man he was meant to be.

He pulled up near the main entrance to one of the half-dozen ski resorts outside Jackson Hole. During the summer, they catered to mountain bikers and other adventure enthusiasts. Edward shook his head at the thought of people who risked their lives for the thrill of it. If only they knew what they were risking.

He'd remembered Alice saying the Cullens would go to Jackson Hole next. There was no other explanation for Bella's sudden disappearance. Either she had run – and he would have smelled her if she'd been nearby – or Alice saw what was happening and the Cullens came to her rescue before the commotion started. He wasn't sure why they didn't stay to help, but there must be an explanation. They wouldn't leave Emmett behind without a reason.

He shut the truck down and closed his eyes. It was nearly midnight. The few bars that were still open seemed quiet, the early-week lull after the constant party that each weekend brought.

He scanned the area as best he could, trying to find Alice, Carlisle, any of the Cullens. They were his only potential connection to Bella.

He picked up nothing, save for the few internal ramblings of the stragglers still at the bars.

He put the pickup back into gear and pulled away. The Cullens were probably at a cabin further from the center of town. Too far away for him to get a reading. He'd have to drive slowly by each set of cabins, hoping for the best.

As he neared the mountain road, he spotted a car in his rear-view. It approached quickly. He stepped on the gas, hoping to find a side road to turn into before the car got too close.

But it was too fast. The headlights got larger, then disappeared altogether as the car rode right up to his bumper. He was about to slam on the brakes so he could take care of the driver permanently, whoever it was, when red and blue lights flashed from atop the vehicle.

This would be easy. In normal times, he didn't like killing cops. It brought too much attention. But now was not a normal time. Besides, he was hungry.

The officer approached his door, and Edward rolled down the window. He steeled himself for what was to come.

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised to find you here, Edward."

"Charlie?"

Edward pulled his hands from the steering wheel and rested them in his lap. He shook his head slowly and offered the barest hint of a smile.

"How the hell did you know to come to the middle of Wyoming?"

"Find my iPhone. Seems Bella got a new phone a few weeks back," Charlie said, smiling. "She has a terrible habit of leaving it laying around the house where anyone might mess with it. Always uses the same password for everything, too: Her mother's birthday."

He showed Edward his phone's screen. It showed a blue icon over a map of the area with the words "Bella's iPhone" in black. By the looks of it, Bella's phone, and likely Bella herself, was just a few miles up the road.

"You're a good man, Charlie Swan," Edward said. "Are you sure you're ready for this?"

"You and I ain't through talking," Charlie replied. He fixed his gaze on Edward. "You understand? I got you for three murders back home. And you still owe me an explanation for whatever the hell it was happened in my front yard."

He stopped and shook his head. "Frankly, though, I'm not sure I'd believe anything you told me at this point, outside of maybe aliens or psychedelic drugs."

"You help me get Bella to safety, Charlie," Edward said, laughing, "and I'll tell you anything you want to know. The truth. All of it. That's a promise from me to you."

"Good to know." Charlie nodded.

"I'll follow you," Edward said, looking back at the police car.

"Hope you can keep up." Charlie climbed into the driver's seat and spun the wheels as he maneuvered the Crown Vic around the pickup.

Edward shifted the truck into gear and settled in behind the police car, content to let Charlie take the lead. For now.

-30-

**A/N Alls I gots to say about that is whoa. **

**As usual, the wonderful MazzyStarla made this chapter better than it would have been. I promise you that. The other parts are my fault.**

**Wondering what the hell is up with Charlie? Stick around. He'll be talking soon. ...**


	18. Chapter 18

"She's sleeping."

"How can you know that? I can't hear a damn thing."

"I just know."

"That ain't good enough. I'm going up there to knock on the door."

"That's a mistake, Charlie. Trust me. She's sleeping and she needs the rest."

"Trust you? Listen, young man. I admire your apparent devotion to my daughter's safety. Really I do. But _do not _ask me to trust you. I am far from that place, and I don't rightly know if I'll ever get there."

Charlie reached for the door again. Edward put a hand on his arm and stopped him.

"Speaking of mistakes," Charlie said. He flexed his arm and eyed Edward's hand and didn't stop staring until Edward removed it.

"You want me to stay here with you," Charlie said, "you'd better give me a damn good reason."

Edward sighed. He considered his predicament. He was sitting in a cop car outside the Cullen's cabin in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, with the father of the _human_ girl he'd fallen for, the guy who'd just helped him kill a legendary vampire, and he was stuck trying to explain how he had magically read the thoughts of the vampires in the house when the truth was he wasn't even sure how it worked himself.

He decided to start with vampires.

"You already know," he said. "Or you suspect, at least. You have for more than twenty years."

"I don't have the faintest notion what you're talking about."

"The war, Charlie. You saw it. Your entire squad saw the results. But none of you wanted to believe."

"Saw what? Quit playing games and tell me what the hell you're talking about or I'll handcuff you right here and go about my business alone."

"Vampires use wars as a cover," Edward said. He looked into the forest, closed his eyes in remembrance. "It's easy to find victims. Easy to cover it up. Even when the soldiers see, they never believe."

"Now wait a goddamn minute."

"Just be quiet and listen, Charlie. I told you I would explain everything. That's what I'm about to do."

He turned his head so Charlie could look into his eyes as he spoke, see the honesty there.

"I've been a vampire since 1918. That family in there, protecting Bella right now, they're all vampires, too. The big guy you shot in the stomach. Vampire. The girl I shot. Vampire. The man you helped me kill in your front yard. The one whose body youset on fire. Vampire.

"We are stronger and we are faster than humans. We are very hard to kill. And yes, we drink blood. But many of us are powerful in other ways, Charlie. Alice, the girl who is fast becoming Bella's first real friend, sees the future. Aro, the vampire leader we killed, could see a person's every memory simply with a touch. I read minds."

"You've gone off the deep end, boy. I'll be sure you get the help you need when we get back to Forks. The state has a good mental health program. I promise to put in a word, once your trial's over."

Edward smiled.

"January 1991. It sticks in your mind, doesn't it Charlie? You can't stop thinking about what you saw."

Charlie said nothing.

"Your unit was in Kuwait. It was a few days after the American invasion. You'd performed well. Defeated an entire Iraqi platoon. Mostly, though, they surrendered. You kept them prisoner. Waited for directions from command.

"But they never came, did they? Not before every one of your prisoners was slaughtered.

"An animal, you told yourselves. Nothing else could have done it. Nothing else could move that fast. No human could do what you saw being done. A single figure, alone, massacring dozens of prisoners.

"You were right in one respect. It wasn't a human. It was a vampire, Charlie."

"How? How can you possibly know about that? It's classified. All of it. Officially, the Army never acknowledged that we'd even taken prisoners, let alone what happened to them."

The two men sat in silence.

_What if he's telling the truth,_ Charlie thought.

"I am," Edward said.

"You are what?"

"Telling the truth."

_Holy shit. That's creepy. _

"I thought it was creepy too, at first. But I've learned that it's a useful tool to have when you're on the run."

_Wonder why he's been on the run. _

"Because I don't fit, Charlie. In that sense, Bella and I are alike."

"Stop doing that," Charlie said. "It's freaking me out."

He sighed. "I'd always wondered. I thought, hell, I don't know what I thought. I went through every possibility in my mind. There just aren't any animals in that part of the world that could do that, you know?

"A werewolf, I thought. A zombie. And yeah, maybe a vampire. It sure would explain a lot."

Edward laughed. "Mind if I smoke?" He drew a Marlboro light from its pack and put it between his lips.

"Not in my car you don't," Charlie said.

Edward opened the door and stepped outside. He patted his pockets, looking for his Zippo, and leaned against Bella's pickup.

Charlie got out of the car and tossed Edward the lighter. "You forgot this."

"Thank you." Edward lit up. The smoke hovered over him like a raincloud in the still air.

Charlie leaned against the police car. "Your big friend. The one I shot. He healed. I told myself I must have missed him. Maybe I just clipped him. That's why he was able to get up and talk to me. He told me to burn that corpse before he ran off to chase the female you wounded.

"The look in his eyes told me he knew what he was talking about. I burned it, but I don't know why."

"It's a lot to take in," Edward said. "I know."

"First time I killed, it was a garter snake that had snuck its way into the laundry room. Momma screamed. Daddy wasn't home. I saw it wasn't poisonous. Went to the shed out back. Grabbed a shovel. I cut its head off and went back to my peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I was seven years old."

Charlie paused. "You got another one of those?"

Edward handed him the pack and the Zippo.

"Killing never bothered me much," Charlie said, exhaling smoke while he talked. "I suppose it was because I figured the things I was killing were meant to be killed. I grew up hunting and fishing. Later on, after high school, I joined the Army. It was either that or the paper mill, maybe salmon fishing in Alaska. Ain't a whole lot of options in a small town for a guy like me. I took a liking to the long guns. The rifles. The Army had the sense to put me through sniper school. I'd always been a good shot."

He took another drag on the Marlboro, flicked the butt to the ground, crushed it with his boot.

"It wasn't much different in the Army. Not at first, anyway. I killed because it was my job. I killed because the things I killed needed killing. Special Forces came calling, and I signed up with enthusiasm.

"Nicaragua. Columbia. Grenada. Panama. I killed dozens. Maybe more.

"Then came the Gulf War. These people weren't fighting back. They just wanted food. Clean clothes. It didn't feel right, killing them."

He stopped and shook his head. "That night you talked about? I can't get it out of my head. Dream about it damn near every night, still. We had twenty seven prisoners. Supposedly Saddam's elite, the Republican guard. Truth was, they were just a bunch of scared kids.

"I had my guys clean 'em up. Feed 'em. I took the night shift guarding them because it seemed like the right thing to do. Lead from the front, that's what my daddy always said.

"It came from out of nowhere. Like it had been there all along. Red eyes. Moved so fast you couldn't hardly see it.

"I got off a couple of shots, but it didn't seem to do any good. I don't miss, mind you. I never miss. But whatever that beast was didn't give two hoots about me and my weapon.

"Whatever it was killed all twenty seven prisoners in less than two minutes. It took off when my guys woke up. Left behind nothing but a pile of mutilated bodies.

"I never could figure out why it ran away. But after tonight, I'm gonna guess it was the sight of a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. If a shotgun loaded with armor-piercing rounds can do one of you people in, I suppose an RPG ain't gonna bounce off, neither."

Charlie leaned back on the hood of his police cruiser and put his hands in his pockets. The first hint of dawn showed over his shoulder, framing him in the glow. Edward studied his face as he probed his thoughts, curious.

What he'd just told Charlie was a lot to take in, but the man seemed to be taking it in stride, as if he wasn't surprised at all.

"I told you I had my suspicions," Charlie said, looking across at Edward. "You understand? I've seen enough in my life to know that it ain't always gonna make sense, the things that happen. Renee, Phil, that whole mess." He sighed. "That's pure evil, right there. A man like that, well he's more dangerous than any vampire. A man with no soul, is what he was.

"Now I don't know you well, and you've still got to answer for Mike Newton, Waylon Forge and, to a lesser extent, Tyler Crowley, though lord knows he probably deserved what you gave him. But even with all that, something tells me you ain't like Phil. You ain't soulless, Edward. I don't know if you're a good man or not. Only time and your actions will tell me that."

He ceased leaning against the car and stood up straight, taking two steps forward. He took his hands from his pockets and put one on Edward's forearm.

"You asked me to trust you earlier. I can't do that. Not yet. But I'm gonna promise to try. You've done me right. You've done Bella right."

"Not yet he hasn't, Charlie." Bella ran down the steps and jumped into Edward's arms. She closed her eyes and kissed him.

Edward stole a glance over at Charlie, who quickly looked away.

Bella broke the kiss and Edward laughed as he let her down carefully.

"Sorry about that, Charlie," he said.

"It's all right, I suppose. There ain't much in this world that ruffles my feathers, Edward. You ought to have figured that out by now."

"Hold on a second here," Bella said. She punched Edward in the arm, then looked from him to Charlie and back again.

"I never thought I'd see the day when Charlie Swan and Edward Masen were acting like best friends. What the hell is going on?"

-30-

**A/N I am almost to 1,000 reviews. This shocks me more than you can possibly know. I didn't think anyone would like this Edward. I really didn't. I wrote him for myself alone. Lucky for me, crazy Bella came along for the ride.**

**Anyway, thank you. Every single one of you. **


	19. Chapter 19

Charlie stepped into the foyer, his hand needlessly hovering over his holstered gun by force of habit.

"You must be Charles Swan," said a smiling Carlisle as he held out his hand. "It is a delight to finally meet you. Bella has told me and Esme so much about you."

"Charlie. Please," he said, shaking Carlisle's hand.

There was an awkward silence.

"Would you like something to drink?" Esme said. "I'm afraid all we have is instant coffee and some canned soda. We don't get many visitors out here."

"Coffee's fine. Black."

Esme smiled and hurried into the kitchen.

Edward briefed Carlisle on the last twenty four hours in Forks while Charlie caught Bella up on the night's events. The deaths of Aro and Demetri. Jane's apparent wounding. Emmett's insistence on staying behind.

"I'll send Rosalie, Jasper and Alice in search of Emmett," Carlisle said. "Alice mentioned some time ago that she believes he would be waiting at the Swan house. Apparently Jane disappeared."

"So what happens now?" Charlie asked.

"Indeed," Carlisle said. "This is, quite frankly, unprecedented. Aro had been the Volturi's leader since its inception. He'd grown into a sadistic dictator, and the organization, in fact all vampires, may be better off without him. But make no mistake: Caius and Marcus will not bow down quietly. Quite the opposite I should think. They will be angry and out for vengeance. Especially Caius. He is as ruthless as Aro ever was, and far smarter. There will likely be a struggle for power, one which I do not see ending peacefully. And let us not forget that Jane is still out there somewhere. She will be far beyond angry."

"I'm not looking for a fight," Edward said. "I never was. I'll disappear again. It'll be as if I never existed."

"Yes, yes. I am sure you're quite capable of taking care of yourself, Edward. But what of Bella and Charlie?"

"They can stay with us," Esme said, carrying a silver coffee platter into the room. She set it down on the coffee table and took a seat beside Carlisle on the sofa.

"I appreciate the offer, ma'am, but I'm going to have to decline," Charlie said. "I vowed to protect and serve the town of Forks, and I see no reason to go back on that promise. End of discussion."

"I'm going with Edward, anyway," Bella said, avoiding Charlie's gaze.

Another uncomfortable silence filled the room. Charlie sipped his coffee and set it down on the platter.

"So. Vampires, huh? How'd that happen?"

Bella burst out laughing. "I wish you could see the look on your face right now, Carlisle. It's priceless."

"Yes. Well. I can certainly see where Bella gets her curiosity and frank nature from, Charlie." He smiled and smoothed his pants legs with the palms of his hands.

"We each have our own stories, Charlie. None is more or less pleasant than the others. Mine begins in London in 1640, where my mother died giving birth to me.

"My father, an Anglican pastor, was among an elite group that spent its time and energy trying to rid the world of supernatural creatures, which they saw as an affront to God.

"I took over this group after my father's passing. But my heart was never in it as deeply as my father's was. I did not, and still do not, enjoy killing creatures of any kind.

"Needless to say, I was careless. I'd discovered a coven living in the sewers, and led the charge against them. I was mortally wounded. I hid for three days, but I could not avoid the inevitable.

"I wouldn't accept it, of course." He laughed. "I tried to end my life in every conceivable way, but none of them worked. We simply did not have the means back then that are available today.

"I was afraid I would become that which I'd hunted. But I was no killer." He briefly glanced at Edward. "Soon, I stumbled across the lifestyle I continue today, wherein we harm no humans, subsisting only on animal blood. It has been my goal for 350 years now to convert all vampires to a life of vegetarianism, as we've come to refer to it."

"Whoa," Charlie said. "And do you have magical superpowers like our friend Edward here?"

Carlisle smiled. "Only the capacity to resist the enormous temptation of human blood. It is why I became a doctor."

"That is so fucked up," Bella said.

Charlie side-eyed her.

"Oh, please," she said, smiling. "You know it's true. She turned to Edward. "Your turn."

"Not now," he said uncomfortably.

"I know it's not easy, Edward," she said. She snuggled up next to him and draped her arms around him.

"Please?" she said, kissing the back of his neck, the skin behind his ear. "You have so many secrets. I've told you mine. Carlisle and even Charlie let theirs out. I think it's only fair that you tell yours."

Edward stood. "Is that what you all want? To know where I came from? How I got here?"

"It would be lovely to know more about you, Edward," Esme said. "You've learned so much about us."

Edward hesitated. "I try not to dwell on the past. It does no one any good."

"What is past is prologue," Carlisle said.

Edward smiled at the Shakespeare quote. "I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past," he said.

"Thomas Jefferson. Of course," Carlisle said. "He was a good man. But what about Simone Weil? 'The destruction of the past is perhaps the greatest of all crimes.'"

Edward countered, "Sometimes the past seems too big for the present to hold."

"I don't know that one," Carlisle said. "Who is it?"

"Chuck Palahniuk," Edward said, smiling.

"Now that you boys have had your fun," Esme said, rolling her eyes at Carlisle, "let's let Edward talk."

Edward sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "You have done so much for me. I suppose I owe you at least this much. I've never told the whole story. When you live your life alone," he said, gently squeezing Bella's hand as he sat back down, "there's no one to tell it to."

He paused and thought back. "I was four years old when I saw my mother get killed. I didn't know it then, but time and experience taught me what had happened to her. A vampire took her life.

He closed his eyes. "It was 1905. June. I was playing outside. Our house backed up to Lake Michigan, long before the highways came in. I used to love watching the seagulls at the edge of the water, as if the entire lake were made for them. The activity was always heaviest at dusk, right before my father arrived home from work.

"I had my back to our yard. My mother had been hanging the laundry out to dry. 'Be careful,' she told me.

"I didn't recognize her screams for what they were. Not at first. I thought she was playing. But when I looked up, a man I'd never seen before was crouched over her as she lay in the grass. I ran as fast as I could. 'Momma!' I screamed.

"The man stood as I approached. He had the palest skin I'd ever seen, so white it was almost translucent. Shockingly white hair that dragged his shoulders. And his eyes. They glowed a cloudy dark red, as if he were a beast from someone's nightmare"

"Caius," Carlisle said.

"Yes. Now you know why I could never bring myself to take the Volturi seriously," Edward said.

He steepled his fingers in front of his face, set his jaw right and continued.

"He spoke to me. 'Your mommy's had an accident.' He wiped blood from his lips with the back of his hand and put his other hand on my shoulder. Mother lay on the ground, unmoving. Blood trickled from a wound in her neck."

Edward paused and shook his head. "I looked up at him, mesmerized, confused. I was too taken aback to be afraid. He had a grin across his face that even a four-year-old child knew wasn't appropriate for the situation.

"We both looked up at once. My father's train had stopped at the end of the block. We saw him coming up the road. The man turned back to me. 'Looks like my time here is done, for now,' he said. He smiled and reached out a hand. I thought he was going to ruffle my hair. Grownups had a habit of doing that."

He smiled at the memory, briefly. "Instead, he stuck out a single finger, its nail grotesquely long, and gouged my cheek from my ear to the corner of my mouth. 'A little something to remember me by,' he said.

Edward fingered the scar on his cheek and absent-mindedly ran his hand through his beard.

"I never spoke of what happened. No matter how many times my father pleaded with me, I couldn't do it. To ignore it might mean it had never happened. In any case, the authorities wrote it up as an animal attack.

"Eventually, my relationship with my father crumbled. He could never forgive me for my silence. He remarried, and I became the forgotten child. By the time I was a teenager, I was ready to move on.

"I'd always been tall for my age, so when America joined the fight against the Germans in World War One, I signed up. I became a Marine. I lied about my age. That was easy to do back then.

"My unit was just outside Paris." He looked at Charlie. "It was my seventeenth birthday, though I didn't tell anyone that. June 1, 1918. We'd just fought the first day of what would become known as the Battle of Belleau Wood. We'd done well, and had captured a squad of Germans. I was guarding them. It was late at night.

"What I witnessed brought back terrible memories. There was a whole pack of them. Frightening creatures with pale skin and red eyes. They tore apart that entire squad in a matter of minutes. I fired my weapon, but it did no harm.

"The gunfire did wake my unit, though. The creatures fled. My sergeant approached me afterward. 'You gonna be OK, private?'

"I didn't answer him, and I didn't speak about the incident for the rest of my time in the Marines. Eventually, they discharged me on a Section Eight. A psych discharge.

"I went back home a disgrace. I couldn't talk about it. Couldn't explain myself. Who would believe me?"

He stopped talking then, and no one else spoke for a moment.

"You poor thing," Esme said. "You were just a boy. What a horrible world you must have believed you lived in."

Edward laughed and Esme looked away, embarrassed. "I'm sorry for laughing, Esme. I suppose I did have a skewed sense of the world by the time I became an adult.

"But it got better. I'd met a girl before the war. A woman, really. Katherine. She was older than I was. I thought she was the most beautiful creature on the planet."

Bella gripped his hand tightly.

"When I came back, she introduced me to our child, John William Masen. He was nearly a year old already.

"We married on the shore of Lake Michigan. I settled into the same job as my father, manufacturing agricultural machinery at one of the factories sprouting up all over the city. All seemed right with the world. I would never be rich, but I thought I could be happy.

"But then the Spanish flu hit. Millions around the world suffered. Millions died. I brought it into our home. Katherine caught it quickly. We tried to avoid the hospitals, but the quarantine caught up with us. John William was on the verge of death. I pleaded with the doctors.

"I didn't seem to have it as bad as others did. I don't know why. But they said there was nothing they could do for my family. They would either die, or they would not. It was up to fate.

"'I'll do anything,' I told them. But I was weak. I was poor. I had nothing they wanted, even if there were something to be done.

"There wasn't, of course. Our destinies were written for us."

He stopped talking and put his head in his hands. "I wish I could tell you I was brave. That when I heard the doctors scheming, making a deal with the vampires, I did something to stop it. But I didn't have it in me. Not then. All I saw was eternal life. Endless possibilities. By then, I'd forced myself to forget what had happened to my mother, what I'd seen in the war."

He sighed. "They talked of a deal with vampires. I knew what that meant, of course. But I deluded myself into thinking the vampires would turn us, somehow. Make us a happy family again. We'd be immune from death. It would last forever. I waited with eager anticipation.

"So I pretended I hadn't overheard the conversation. When nightfall came, I slept fitfully. The attack happened at midnight. They killed Katherine first. I tried to stop them, but it was useless. They were too powerful. I was horrified at my own stupidity.

"I took John William away. We hid in a storage closet. But they wrenched the door open and tore him from my arms.

"I will never forget the man who killed my baby. It was as if he'd walked out of a nightmare and into the real world.

"'The baby is mine,'" he growled. He was a beast. Eyes the color of blood. Tribal tattoos forming a pattern across his hairless scalp. His mouth dripped blood as he tore John William from my arms."

Carlisle gasped.

"Yes, Carlisle. The man who haunts your memories also haunts mine."

"He is my biggest failure," Carlisle said, shaking his head. "I thought we had a chance with him. I thought I could do good."

Edward shook his head. "You will help me find him one day. He and I have unfinished business."

"He's the one who turned you."

"I have always assumed so. I passed out after John William was taken. I came to as the sun rose. It was a massacre. The vampires had fed on dozens of flu victims, my wife and child among them.

"I didn't realize I'd been bitten until I was blocks away. Blood poured from my neck. I screamed out in desperation. I prayed to die. I literally dropped to my knees and prayed for the final time in my life. The last thing I wanted was to become what I was from then on destined to be.

"I was a killer, and there was nothing I could do about it."

-30-

**A/N Thanks everybody for the reviews. This little story hit 1,000 the other day! Special thanks to MazzyStarla for keeping me on the path. **

**To the guest reviewer who asked about the "-30-" at the end of my stories: Newspaper reporters used to do this long ago to signify the end. I picked it up somewhere and just liked it. There's no hidden meaning in it or anything. :)**


	20. Chapter 20

Edward shook Charlie's hand firmly.

"It's been good getting to know you, sir," he said smiling. "You're not what I expected."

Charlie laughed. "You sure I can't convince you to come back to Forks? Face those charges?"

"I'm sorry to have put you in such a predicament," Edward said. "Three unsolved homicides won't look good on your records."

Charlie sighed. "There's not much I can do about it. I know how to pick my battles, and this ain't one I can win. But you'll owe me. Remember that."

"I will. And I promise to repay you one day."

Bella came in from the kitchen downing a can of Coke. "Hey," she said, looking at Charlie, her hair draped over her face. She set her drink down on an end table and took a deep breath. "So I guess this is it."

"Come here," Charlie said. He put his arms out. Bella hesitated briefly, but let him fold himself around her. He put his face in her hair and whispered. "You're stronger than she ever was. Don't you ever forget that." He put his hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eye. "Understand?"

Bella wiped away a tear and nodded. "I know, dad." She wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him again. "Thank you. For everything."

Bella released Charlie, and he turned to face Edward. "You take care of my girl. I'm holding you responsible if anything happens to her."

"I will, sir. Consider it my life's mission."

"You sure you won't even give me a hint about where you're going? Could be, I might be able to help."

"The less you know the better," Edward said. "What's left of the Volturi won't be happy that you know the secret, Charlie. They'll be busy for now, so you're probably safe for a while. But they'll come. Eventually they'll come. Count on it."

"Like I told you before, I can take care of myself. But I appreciate the sentiment."

They all headed out the front door, where Carlisle and Esme were loading luggage into the back of the Denali.

"Where will you go?" Edward said, grabbing a suitcase and putting it into the SUV.

"With the events surrounding the Volturi so fresh, I thought it best that we go as far away from Italy as possible," Carlisle said. "We'll ride out the storm at our place in Alaska. We'll be stopping off in Forks on the way to pick up the rest of the family, Emmett included." He turned to Charlie. "That is, if it's OK with you."

"Of course," Charlie said with a smile. "So long as you're not staying. I've about had my fill of vampires."

Bella hugged Charlie once more and climbed behind the wheel of her pickup. Edward laughed and got in the passenger door.

"Where to?" Bella said. The old engine rumbled to life.

"If I asked you to stop at the first car dealership we came across, would you?" Edward said, patting the old pickup's dash.

"I'd sooner get rid of you than this truck," she said. She made her way back to the main highway and stopped at the crossroads.

"Take a left," Edward said. "We'll go south. I know a place outside Chicago. We'll be safe there."

They drove mostly in silence through Wyoming and into Nebraska, then Iowa. Edward was more concerned than he was letting on. He knew there was no way they would be able to avoid the Volturi forever. Not as long as Bella stayed human.

He didn't want to change her, to kill her. But he might have no choice. Eventually, it might come down to that. Either let the Volturi kill her or do it himself.

"What are you thinking?" Bella said.

"Nothing important."

"You could have fooled me. Your face looks like you just took a dump. In public. In front of your mom."

She laughed, then gasped. "Oops. Shit. Sorry. I forgot. I'm. God, Bella, you're such a dumbass."

"Stop," Edward said. "You're not a dumbass, Bella. And it's no big deal. My mother died a long time ago."

"So it was some guy named Caius, you think? Who's he?"

"Is that really what you want to talk about?"

"I figure I should know as much about the people who want to kill me as possible."

"OK," Edward said. "Aro was one of three leaders of the Volturi. Arguably, the chief among them. The others are Marcus and Caius. Marcus is, frankly, an idiot. He is physically powerful, but nothing to worry about.

"Caius is another matter. He spent the first two thousand years of his existence as a nomad. He terrorized Europe and, later, the Americas.

"Eventually, as the vampire population began to grow, he saw advantages to creating his own coven. He organized a small group of vampires in Brazil, and they turned dozens of natives.

"His group controlled the entire Amazon rainforest. He lived like a king, and he treated his vampires as subjects. And then the Volturi came calling."

"They forced him to join?" Bella asked.

Edward laughed. "Something like that." He looked at the approaching fast-food restaurant signs. "Aren't you hungry? You should get a Big Mac or something. Some fries. A shake."

"Yeah. I could go for a cheeseburger," she said. "Besides, I have to pee."

Bella went to the restroom while Edward ordered and chose a booth near the back.

"They should be getting to Forks soon, shouldn't they," Bella said, sitting down and looking at the clock on her phone's screen.

"Try Find My iPhone," Edward said. "If it worked for Charlie, it should work the other way, too."

She opened the app. "Charlie's outside Seattle," she said. "Knowing how the Cullens drive, I'm betting Carlisle and Esme are there already."

Almost at once, Edward heard voices. It was Alice Cullen, inside his head.

"What's wrong?" Bella said.

"There's trouble," Edward said, wincing. "I've never felt anything like this. Alice, she's in my head. It's never worked from this far away before."

"Hold up," Bella said. "They're in Forks? And what does she mean by trouble? Ask her if Charlie's OK."

"It doesn't work like that, Bella. She can't hear me. She can't even be sure I'm getting this message." He held up his hand. "Hold on."

He listened for a moment as Bella watched, helpless.

"I have to go," Edward said. "Charlie isn't there yet, but Jane showed up a few hours ago. She's terrorizing the place, Bella. Making a spectacle of herself. Apparently, the Cullens have cornered her, but she's knocking them out one at a time with her power. Alice says they can't hold on much longer."

"I'm going with you."

"I can't allow that, Bella. It'll be too dangerous."

"What makes it any safer for you? Really. If the Cullens can't stop her, what makes you think you can? You're just as powerless over her ability to inflict pain as they are."

"And you're not?"

"No," Bella said, smiling. "I'm not."

"What are you talking about?" Edward said.

"OK. So. You can't read my mind, right? And you said your ability gets fuzzy when I'm around sometimes, right? And Alice couldn't really see my future, even when yours was clear."

"So?"

"Don't you get it? I've got some kind of a shield or something. I'll bet good money that Jane's power doesn't work on me either."

Edward sat in silence for a moment. She had a good point. "Is this the theory you mentioned a while ago?"

"Yup."

"But you're human, Bella. You're weak. An easy target."

"That's what I have you for." She smiled and slid closer to him in the booth. "Besides, I have another theory."

Edward sighed. He picked up the tray of food scraps and headed for the trash can. "Come on. We should hurry."

The sun had set while they were inside, and traffic was light. Bella pulled the keys from her pocket and reached for the door handle.

"We're not taking the truck," Edward said.

"I told you I'm not getting rid of it, Edward."

"It will wait for you." He turned his back to her. "Here. Hop on."

"Get on your back? Like a piggy-back ride?"

"Yes. It'll be much faster. I can get us there in a couple hours, tops. The truck will take all night."

"OK," she said, climbing on and wrapping her arms around his neck. "I'm not choking you, am I?"

"I'm a vampire, Bella. I don't breathe."

"Oh yeah," she said.

"Hold on tight. We'll be traveling very fast."

She locked her fingers together across his chest and wrapped her feet around his hips as best she could. "I feel like a little kid," she said, smiling.

Edward took off, and Bella screamed. At first he wasn't sure if she was afraid or hurt, but soon realized she was laughing. He followed the interstate back the way they had come and stopped every few hundred miles so Bella could rest, then continued on.

It was nearly midnight when they arrived in Forks, and the town looked quiet. Edward scanned the area as Bella climbed down.

"That was just weird," she said.

"I can't hear anything," Edward said. "It's too quiet. Something's wrong."

He led Bella around the edge of town to her house. It was dark, and Charlie's police cruiser wasn't there. The front door was hanging on its hinge, and broken glass still littered the porch from the earlier fight with Aro. But now, blood spots covered the glass, and it looked like it had been trampled on.

"Stay close," Edward said. He knew no one was there or he'd have sensed their thoughts already. But he needed to look inside the house. He knew Bella would need it too. He put his arm around her in case she needed his support. There was no telling what they would find inside.

The place was trashed. Furniture had been upturned and the rear sliding glass door was shattered.

"Oh my god. Where's Charlie?" Bella screamed.

Edward ran onto the rear deck. He skidded in a pool of blood and stopped at the headless corpse of what looked like Jasper.

"Holy shit!" Bella said.

Two other vampires Edward recognized as members of the Volturi Guard lay dead nearby. He followed a trail of destruction down the outside steps and into the field behind the house.

Emmett, Rose, Carlisle and Esme were there. All had been decapitated.

"No Alice. No Charlie," he said.

Bella was in tears. "I can't lose him too, Edward. I can't. We have to find him."

Edward closed his eyes and concentrated. If Charlie was still alive and anywhere nearby, he should be able to find him.

But the voice he heard in his head wasn't Charlie's. it was Alice's.

He ran toward the woods, leaving Bella behind and scanning as he went. He passed three more dead Guard members, all who looked to have been taken apart by Charlie's shotgun.

He plowed through the underbrush, mowed over small trees and leapt a downed oak as he followed her voice. "Alice" he called out.

He stopped to listen. There, to the left. He ran that way.

She lay in a fetal position, barely conscious. Charlie was on the ground next to her. He was covered in blood.

"Are they still alive?" Alice groaned. "I got him out of there as fast as I could. I never saw her coming, Edward. She had a whole team with her. Twenty, thirty members of the Guard. They killed humans. Dozens of them all over town."

Edward removed the shotgun from Charlie's hands and checked his pulse. It was there, but just barely. He had lost a lot of blood. Without a transfusion soon, he would die.

"Jasper," Alice said. Edward saw the fight in her mind. They'd been ambushed at Charlie's house. "I didn't see them because they weren't there for us. They were there for Charlie."

"Jasper fought valiantly," Edward said. "But I'm sorry, Alice. He was a good soldier, but he's gone. They're all gone."

"I saw you," Alice said, as if she hadn't heard him. "You and Bella. She was absolutely gorgeous, Edward. Glowing like no one I'd ever seen before." She coughed up blood and tried to lift her head, and Edward saw that it was barely hanging on. Her spine was exposed, and bits of her brain had begun to ooze out.

She spoke again, haltingly, as Edward tended to Charlie's wounds. There was no way he'd be able to save him, but maybe he could make his last moments comfortable.

"You and Bella were on a beach," Alice said. She coughed up black fluid, but kept speaking. "You held hands as you walked, and oh, Edward, you looked so happy.

"On the cliff above you, flames burned. It was some sort of ritual, a ceremony, I think. A dark figure looked down on you. I couldn't tell who it was, but you seemed happy."

Bella finally made it to him.

"No!" she screamed. "God no. Edward you have to save them."

"Bella," Alice said. "Come here."

Bella leaned over Alice as Edward picked up Charlie's limp body.

"We have to go," he said.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save him," Alice whispered, and she closed her eyes.

Bella turned to Edward. "There's no time to get him to the hospital, Edward. You know that."

"I know," he said. "I'm sorry Bella."

"You can save him," she said. "It's the only way."

"I can't do that, Bella. I've never turned a human."

"Please," she said. "I'm begging you."

Edward set Charlie down on the ground. His breaths came only twice a minute, and he gurgled as he breathed in. He coughed up blood and his eyes rolled in the back of his head.

"If this was your mother and you knew turning her was the only way to save her, would you?"

Edward didn't answer.

"Would you god dammit!"

"Yes," he whispered.

"Then do it for me. Please."

Edward bent over Charlie's limp body and bared his teeth.

-30-

**A/N This right here? The crazy-assed chapter you just read? That's the mid-point of this little story. We're halfway there. Rest assured that this won't be a neverending fic. I know exactly where I'm going and exactly how I'm going to get there. Thanks, as always, to MazzyStarla for her wisdom, and to you ladies for your clicking. It makes a guy feel like he's done something right.**


	21. Chapter 21

Edward descended the stairs into the basement and locked the hatch behind him. He took a moment to survey the room and wished again that Alice would wake up. He'd gotten lucky, finding the basement without her help, but he needed guidance. Now that he'd carried Alice and Charlie down there, he wasn't sure what he should be doing.

He knew they couldn't go anywhere for a few days. Charlie would be dangerous, more dangerous even than Jane and her half-assed run at Forks with her private army.

A newborn vampire must be taken seriously.

"Will he be OK?" Bella asked. "Is it taking?"

Charlie was unconscious, propped up against the wall where Edward had placed him. He had bite marks on his neck and arms. Edward was going to move Charlie into the storage room soon, before he woke up. Charlie's skin had already turned pale. His cheeks were sunken, and the gray had begun to disappear from his hair.

"Honestly, I don't know, Bella. Aside from my own experience, I have very little knowledge of newborns. About all I know is it's far from a pleasant undertaking. He'll be in severe pain for a few days. And he'll be incredibly dangerous."

"Is that why we're hiding here? Because he's dangerous?"

"That and the FBI," Edward said. "I've been reading Charlie's thoughts, as jumbled as they are. Apparently, Jane showed up and went on a rampage. When she discovered that you and I weren't here, she went looking for Charlie."

Charlie stirred. His groans echoed off the walls in the tiny room.

"I have to get him away from you," Edward said. "If he comes to, he'll smell your blood and kill you before he even knows what he's done. I won't be able to stop him."

He carried Charlie into the storage room, a ten-by-ten space with a workbench against one brick wall and the house's electrical box on another. It looked as if the Cullens had built it for exactly this purpose, holding newborns. It was like a small fortress.

Edward ducked under the chain hanging from the single lightbulb in the center of the ceiling, moved the toolbox away and laid the chief down on the bench. He secured the door behind him as he carried the tools back into the main room. There was no need to leave a cache of potential weapons within Charlie's reach. He locked the door behind him.

"Jane killed off the entire police department," Edward said, rejoining Bella. "She and her army tore through town like a drunken pack of newborns. They killed dozens of people, maybe more."

He sat down, and Bella took the seat next to him.

"So that's why the feds showed up," Bella said.

"It's a disaster for the Volturi," Edward said. "There had to be hundreds of witnesses. They'll tell the authorities, as well as every cable news reporter with a microphone and a blow dryer. There'll be no stopping it."

He stopped and shook his head. "I don't know what Jane was thinking. It doesn't make any sense. I can't figure out what she was after. It can't just be one rogue vampire and a couple of humans."

Bella put her arm around Edward's shoulder and hugged him tight.

"What about Alice?" she said. "Will she be OK?"

"I don't know. She was badly wounded. I've never seen a vampire come back from that much damage. But she's tough. I didn't think she'd last this long."

Edward had laid Alice down on a blanket on the floor. She hadn't made a sound since they arrived, but her wounds did appear to be healing slowly.

"Why is she surviving when the rest of the family isn't?" Bella said. "I thought you had to burn the bodies to kill them."

"Not if you remove the head completely," Edward said. "If a vampire is badly wounded, as Felix was after you shot him, you can destroy the body by burning it before it has a chance to repair itself. But without a head, the nerves linking the brain and the body are cut. There's no way that kind of injury can heal itself, of course.

"All of the Cullens were decapitated, and so were the Volturi Guard members out there. That was probably Jasper's doing. Judging by Alice's injuries, it looks like someone almost succeeded in decapitating her, too, but wasn't able to complete the job."

Bella looked over at Alice, who hadn't moved since Edward carried her in. "She needs blood," Bella said. "She won't be strong enough to heal without it."

"Yes," Edward said.

"You need it too, Edward. How long has it been?"

"I'll be fine," he said. He gritted his teeth and refused to think about it, honestly uncertain if he could go on much longer. It had already been weeks.

"No, Edward. You won't be fine. You're weak and getting weaker."

Bella crossed the room and turned on the television. She picked up the remote and sat back down next to Edward.

She began flipping channels. The Forks Monster, the networks were calling it. All of them had live trucks stationed outside the police department, where the FBI had taken over.

"_This quiet town is devastated, Angie_," one of the on-scene reporters was telling the news anchor. "S_o far, the authorities have identified seventy-three victims, including almost the entire police department_.

"_That department's chief, Charles Swan, is missing. No one knows what led to this tragedy, but witnesses are openly speculating that it was some kind of monster_."

She clicked the television off.

"You're going to have to be strong enough to deal with _that_," Bella said, nodding at the TV. "Not to mention Jane and whatever else the Volturi throws at you."

She kissed his cheek and walked across the room, took a box cutter from the toolbox, and rolled up her sleeve.

"You first," she said, running the razor up her forearm, careful to stop after making a two-inch cut.

"Bella. No," Edward said. He reached to take the blade away, but he'd reacted too slowly. He unconsciously licked his lips as he watched blood trickle from the wound.

"Take it," Bella said, moving in closer. Edward turned his head away, but she put her hand on his chin and tilted his head up, so she could look into his eyes.

"Please," she whispered, leaning down to kiss his lips. "I need you, Edward. We all do, Alice, Charlie. You're the only thing between us and the mob outside. Between us and the Volturi. You're our protector, and we need you to be strong."

She put her arm to his lips, and Edward drank. He closed his eyes and ran his tongue over the wound as he sucked, the warm fluid gliding down his throat. He moaned softly, realizing how hungry he really was.

Bella put her other hand on the back of his head and pulled him closer, until her arm was against her stomach and Edward's head rested on her chest. She stroked his hair, gently running her fingers through it as he continued to feed.

Edward knew he should stop. He felt Bella stroking his hair, her blood running down his throat, and he lost track of where he was and what he was doing. The outside world had disappeared, and he was here only with the blood and the animal instinct inside him that ached for the blood.

He opened his lips wider and took more of Bella's flesh in his mouth. He ran his teeth over the wound and felt the skin give way. One little tug, a small bite, wouldn't hurt. He could open the vein a little and he knew that the blood would gush and he would capture it all and it would be good and feel good as it warmed him from the inside. He would be good and he would be strong and he would embrace the monster once again and all would be forgiven. He would be forgiven. He opened his mouth.

"Stop! Edward, you're killing her!"

The scream jarred him. He opened his eyes and he backed away from Bella's arm and he saw her collapse before him, a ghost.

He bent to her and scooped her into his arms, not daring to look at Alice, now awake and screaming.

He laid Bella down on the floor and propped her head up with a furniture blanket. "Bella, please be OK," he whispered. "I'm sorry. Please wake up."

He felt the strength he'd gained, as if he'd injected enough blood for an army. He was sure he hadn't taken more than a pint, though. There hadn't been enough time.

He stroked Bella's hair and he felt that her skin was warm. Color began to come back to her cheeks and she opened her eyes.

She smiled at Edward, and turned to look at Alice.

"You're awake!" Bella said.

Alice smiled back, though weakly. Her neck still showed purple scars, and the skin around it appeared raw. "I'm not the only one, I see."

"That? I just got a little woozy is all," Bella said. "Dracula here couldn't stop himself. It's good to know I have that kind of effect on him."

She sat up and kissed him, then moved over to Alice. Bella bared her arm and put it in front of Alice's face. "Your turn," she said.

"You should wait," Edward said. He put his hands on Bella's shoulders as if to guide her away.

"Hands off, dude," Bella said. She turned back to Alice as Edward stepped away. "Here," she said, and she put the wound gently to Alice's lips.

Alice arched her neck upward and put her lips to the wound, hesitant at first. "I'll be fine," Bella said. "It's not the first time I've passed out from blood loss. It passes quickly. Don't worry about it. But maybe don't wait for me to fall on the floor before stopping." She looked at Edward and smirked. "I do need to keep some of this for myself."

Alice closed her eyes and locked her lips on Bella's skin. Edward watched, ready to intervene if he needed to.

Alice pulled away after a few seconds. She sat up, and she stood.

"Wow," she said. "I feel stronger than ever." She ran her hands down the front of her body and looked at herself.

"What have you got in there? Premium? Holy shit, Bella. I feel like a new woman. You should bottle that stuff and sell it online."

"I have a theory about that," Bella said.

Edward smiled. "She has lots of theories."

Bella ignored him. "Try to see my future, Alice."

Alice closed her eyes and appeared to be concentrating. A moment passed. "I've got nothing," she said.

Bella smiled.

"No one's powers work on me. I'm different," Bella said. "And I think my blood's different, too." She turned to Edward. "Remember the first time I fed you? After Felix almost killed you? You said you were overcome with power from a few drops. And you said the smell was different, too, when we first met."

"It's the only reason I didn't kill you," he admitted.

"Well, yeah, that and my charming personality. But what if there's something in my blood that's different? Something that gives vampires an extra boost? Maybe that's why Jane went nuts. She figured it out, and she wants me for herself."

Edward said nothing, but he thought she had a point. There was no denying that there was something different about Bella; the immunity to vampire powers, the effect of her blood, the way his powers didn't seem to fully work when she was nearby.

"I've heard such legends," Alice said. "But I didn't think they were real."

"Tell me," Edward said.

"They're called Shields," Alice said. "And they're incredibly rare. There's a mutation in the mitochondrial DNA. It's not inherited, which is why no one can predict who's going to have it."

She explained that these shields were often conscripted into serving the church in medieval times in the fight against vampires.

"Carlisle would know more," she said. She turned away, and pressed her palms to her eyes.

"I'm sorry," Alice said. "I just can't believe they're gone. I thought. I mean, I saw me and Jasper living together forever. I never saw anything like this coming. When you've spent as long as I have seeing the future, you come to depend on those visions. You _believe_ them, even though you know they're not real, only possibilities."

Bella put an arm around Alice and guided her to the blanket on the floor. She sat with her and let Alice cry on her shoulder.

"Jasper was an honorable man," Edward said. "As were all the Cullens."

He knelt down beside the two women and looked Alice in the eye.

"Understand this," he said. "Jane will not survive her mistake, Alice, and neither will the Volturi. I know it won't bring Jasper back, but Jane's days are numbered. I won't rest until she's gone."

"What are you gonna do, Edward?" Bella said.

He looked over his shoulder at the room where he'd put Charlie.

"How do you feel," he said, "about holding a press conference?"

-30-

**A/N So there you go. A few folks had questions about how to kill a vampire 'round these parts, and it turned out Bella was wondering the same thing. I'm trying to make this fic as canon as I can while still following the laws of physics. And the Shield thing with the blood? It just made sense to me. Anywho, thanks to MazzyStarla for rocking my world (go read her much cuter fic, Dress You Up), and thanks to all you wonderful peeps out there for clicking and reading.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Quick A/N: This little story is up for Fic of the Week at the Lemonade Stand! Turns out, so is MazzyStarla's Dress You Up. And so are lots of others. The top five vote-getters win. So go give the list a look and vote, if you see something you like. Thanks.**

Alice kept extra makeup in the upstairs bathroom, and she always left clothes behind, so she and Bella had climbed up there 20 minutes ago while Edward kept an eye on Charlie.

He was stirring. He'd probably be awake soon.

"You ladies should hurry," Edward called out. "I don't know how much longer he'll be out."

They came bounding down the stairs arm-in-arm. Bella wore black jeans that closely matched Edward's and a white, long-sleeved blouse.

"You'll have to do this alone," Edward said, looking Bella in the eye as they readied for the press conference. "Alice and I will be nearby. We won't let anything happen to you."

"And we'll get you out of there before the cops get their hooks in you, too," Alice said.

"That's not gonna be easy," Bella said.

"It's going to be chaotic," Edward said. "As soon as the reporters realize who's out there, it'll be like a feeding frenzy. It will get worse once you start talking.

"There's no way the FBI will drag you away on live TV. Just like the Volturi, they're afraid of revealing too much to the public. We'll use that to our advantage."

Bella took in a deep breath. "I need a cigarette," she said. She reached into Edward's coat pocket and withdrew his pack, lighting one and blowing smoke through her nose. She chewed her fingernails and smoked some more as Edward went over the plan again.

"It's OK to be nervous, Bella," Alice said, putting an arm around her.

"I know," Bella said. She flicked ash into an empty Coke can and ran a hand through her hair.

"You really think me going on TV will draw Jane out?"

"I know it will," Edward said. "She's desperate, if what she did to this town is any indication. She'll be here before the day is done. I guarantee it. And she won't be expecting me or Alice."

"What do you see, Alice?" Bella asked.

"I can't see anything," she said. "Jane doesn't know yet, so she hasn't decided to come here yet. I'll know more after you go on TV."

Bella laughed and shook her head. She put her cigarette out in the Coke can and clapped her hands together.

"I guess I should go," she said. "Wish me luck."

She kissed Edward on the lips and grabbed the keys to Carlisle's old Jeep, which he left in the garage for emergencies.

Edward and Alice headed into town through the woods.

"She's a brave woman," Alice said. "There aren't many humans like her."

The wind kicked up in the trees, and Edward looked to the sky. "There's a storm coming," he said. "Not that it matters. We won't need the cloud cover today."

A light rain began to fall, and its intensity slowly increased until it had reached a downpour as they got to the edge of town.

"I don't think there have ever been many like her, Alice. Bella is more than a human. More than a mutation. It's almost as if - and I know this sounds ridiculous - but I sometimes wonder if she was sent here, in some way."

They stuck to sidestreets as they made their way toward the police station.

"Vampires have spent hundreds of years under the Volturi's rule," Edward said. "And yet, just weeks after I met Bella, its leader is dead, the entire coven is in shambles, and any hope the rest of them have of ever regaining their stature rests on what happens in the next couple hours."

"True," Alice said. "But my entire family is gone, too, Edward. There's no denying that much good has happened, but so has much bad."

He bowed his head. "That seems to be the way of the world," he said. "It's a balancing act."

They took up a spot in the park across the street from the station. They had a good view of the live TV trucks lining the road.

"You sure you can handle him?" Edward asked. "Newborns are powerful, Alice. And he'll need coaching."

"I'll handle it when the time comes," she said. "Being able to see his next move should give me an advantage."

She looked up the street and saw Bella parking the Jeep.

"She's here."

Bella emerged, and to Edward, she didn't seem nervous at all. She shielded her head from the rain with her hands and walked up to the first news van she ran into. She knocked on the window and waited for the driver to roll it down.

"I'm Bella Swan," Edward heard her say. "I'd like to talk to you about my father."

"You're the police chief's daughter?" the driver said. Bella told him she was.

A blond reporter emerged from the back of the van holding an umbrella and ushered Bella to the side of the building, presumably to keep her presence a secret from the FBI and, probably, the other reporters.

But the whispers began.

Soon, another news crew showed up. And another. And another. It didn't stop until eleven cameras crowded around Bella as if she were giving a post-Superbowl news conference.

The blond reporter asked questions as Bella peered into the cameras, one-by-one.

"He's my dad, of course I'm worried," Bella said. "I'm scared shitless, if you wanna know the truth. He's all I have left."

She took the microphone out of the reporter's hand and gripped it tight. "The vampires scare the everloving fuck out of me," she said. "And they should scare you too."

A few reporters laughed, but most kept their cool. Bella didn't stop.

"I've seen what they can do," she said, her voice rising in pitch. "Talk to the people in town. They'll tell you. That was no pack of wolves that tore through here. It was a pack of vampires. I'll bet there's already video on YouTube."

Alice and Edward made their way closer. They watched the chaos through one of the miniature television monitors that was in the back of a live truck. Edward saw Bella's face, crowded by the microphone, half covered with her own wet hair.

He decided that he and Alice should move closer in case anything unexpected happened. They propped themselves against the side of a building and watched.

Edward remembered back to the night he'd met Bella, the night he'd almost killed her. He thought then that she was unconventionally beautiful, somehow apart from the world she lived in. But he was wrong, he realized now. It was the conventions of the world that were misguided. Bella was the beautiful one, and the world needed to shape itself in her image.

If his hunches were right, it soon would.

He smiled as he watched her perform her part perfectly, the distraught daughter of a missing police chief. And he suddenly realized that it was not a part she was playing at all. Her father was dead, and it was his fault.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

Alice put her arm around his shoulders. "She's strong, Edward. She'll make it through this. And so will Charlie. I'll make sure of it. I'll keep him safe."

He nodded, but didn't say anything.

He lit a cigarette and kept watch on Bella, almost missing the FBI agents as they came out the police station's front door. It was just as he'd suspected. They split up, two going around to the right flank while two circled in from the left.

She would be safe, as long as the cameras remained turned on. And as long as she kept ranting about scary vampires, he knew the reporters would keep eating it up.

"Jane will be here soon," Alice said.

"I think it depends on how far away she got," Edward said. "If she only went as far as Seattle, she'll probably be here in an hour. But if she went all the way back to Italy, it might not be until tomorrow."

"No," Alice said. "I mean I see it, Edward. She's almost here."

Edward kept watch on the agents, who crept closer and closer. The bigger one on the right worried him. He was thinking this was going to be his big score, debunking a vampire rumor and saving the missing police chief's daughter from whatever mess she'd gotten herself into.

But if Alice was right, there wouldn't be time for any of that. There wouldn't be time to worry about the FBI.

He crept closer and squeezed in behind the pack of reporters crowding Bella.

"Sir."

An agent stood behind him, one hand resting on his holstered gun and the other pressing down on Edward's shoulder.

"We'd like to talk to you for a moment," the agent said. Edward turned and smiled. "Of course, officer," he said.

The agent's thoughts revealed that the people in town had already told the FBI about him, the mysterious man in the long black coat who showed up right before the trouble began. He had to admit, had had blundered badly, calling attention to himself in a way he never had before.

As Edward turned, giving the impression that he was going to follow the agent, he grabbed the man's wrist and twisted. The agent winced in pain as the bone cracked and he went to his knees. Out of the corner of his eye, Edward saw Alice head off two other agents who were hustling toward him. She grabbed each by the hand and forced them into a nearby alley.

Edward dealt with the man who was now on his knees in front of him. He didn't want to hurt the man, so he punched him in the chest hard enough that he knew the agent wouldn't be able to catch his breath for several minutes. The agent slumped over, and Edward moved him away from the crowd. He propped him against a wall and turned, sure the lone remaining FBI agent would be there soon.

Jane stood there instead, smiling. She wore a black and red cloak that continued into a hood shrouding her light brown hair. Edward knew her diminutive size was misleading. Jane was the most dangerous vampire on the planet.

"Hello, Edward," she said.

She focused on his eyes and a sharp pain seized him. But before he collapsed, Alice was there. She slammed Jane into a wall, shattering the cinder blocks.

The reporters turned to see what was happening.

"Get a camera on that," the blond one who'd been leading the interview with Bella screamed at her cameraman, ten yards away. Quickly, a dozen cameras focused on Alice, Jane and Edward.

"There's no turning back now," Edward said to Alice. "Go get him."

Alice took off running while Jane climbed out of the debris. She went for Bella, knowing that despite her power, she was no match for both Edward and Alice.

She tore through the reporters as if they were made of cardboard, tossing them aside with little regard to their well being. The last remaining FBI agent drew down on her and ordered her to stop.

Jane smirked and kept moving. The agent fired, but his bullets did nothing. She reached him and took his gun from his hand, crushing it in hers. He tried to punch her, but she grabbed his fist in mid-air and broke the bones. She pulled him to her and sunk her teeth into his neck.

The crowd screamed as blood poured from the carotid artery and the agent went down.

The remaining cameras focused on Jane. Blood dripped from her mouth and her eyes glowed red.

Edward used the delay to go to Bella. He scooped her into his arms and ran into the police station. He got as far as the lobby before he was blinded by pain and collapsed to the ground.

Jane burst through the front doors, glass flying everywhere.

She spotted Bella leaning over Edward, whose hands were pressed to his temples.

Edward saw Bella standing between him and his tormenter. She balled her hands into fists and took a deep breath. He tried to speak, but another round of pain seized him.

"You're a brave one," Jane said. "Stupid but brave."

Bella smiled and stepped forward. "Why aren't you using your little tricks on me?" she said. "Afraid it won't work?"

Jane took another step toward Bella, and another, until their faces were inches apart. Neither flinched, neither moved. Edward saw the television cameras approach from behind. He knew they were broadcasting the scene nationwide, live.

"You have a little something on your face," Bella said. She reached out and wiped a spot of blood from Jane's cheek with her thumb. "There. So much prettier."

Jane pushed Bella's hand away. "I have plans for you," she said. She looked down at Edward and smirked. "As soon as I take care of your boyfriend, here."

Bella looked out the window with a look of concern on her face. "Don't worry," Edward said through his pain. "They'll be here."

Jane smiled. "Are you two cooking up something for me? Oh, I can't wait to see what it is!"

She took Bella by the hand. "Until then, let me tell you what you're about to endure. I won't kill you, Miss Swan. Your blood is too valuable. No. You'll be my ... slave, for lack of a better word. I'll bleed you just short of death every week. You'll act as my own personal supply. With the qualities inherent in your blood, I'll be the most powerful vampire who's ever existed. Caius wouldn't dare challenge me for leadership."

Edward still couldn't move, the pain was so severe. He couldn't wait for the world to be rid of Jane. He would go after Caius next.

As if on cue, heads turned toward the street, where news vans were being overturned one by one.

Onlookers screamed and ran away.

A fire hydrant burst.

Windows exploded.

Whatever it was was getting closer.

Jane lost her focus just long enough for Edward to stand up and grab Bella. He picked her up and ran toward the rear of the station, where the prisoners were housed.

He put her in an empty cell and shut the door, handing her the key. "You'll be safer in here," he said. "Whatever you do, do not open this door. OK?" Bella nodded.

He turned his head as screams erupted from the front lobby.

Charlie was there, with Alice right behind him.

Edward ran toward them. He stopped when he reached the lobby, which was in chaos. Charlie had broken through the brick wall, its remains littering the ground.

He'd torn apart one television camera, and now his attention was on Jane as the rest of the cameras kept rolling.

"Charlie!" Edward called sharply.

"Isn't that the police chief?" someone asked.

The newborn vamp slowly turned his head in Edward's direction. He looked like a beast, bright red eyes and ghostly white skin. His hair had gone almost completely black, and his muscles were incredibly well-defined under the plain white T-shirt he wore. He looked twenty years younger than he was. He looked like a soldier.

"Do it," Edward said.

He caught the barest hint of a smile cross Charlie's lips as Jane darted left, trying to escape. But Charlie was too fast. He grabbed her by the neck and lifted her into the air one-handed. She tried to focus her power on him, but it was too late.

Charlie put his other hand on her hip, gripped her tightly, and ripped her head off. Black bile burst from her corpse and covered everything in the room. He flung the body away as if it were a piece of trash.

Pandemonium erupted. Edward knew he had to calm Charlie down before he put innocent humans in danger. Alice approached to help.

"Charlie," she said, gripping his face in her hands. "You did good. Do you understand?"

He nodded that he did.

Edward ran to get Bella.

"Is he OK?" she asked.

"He did great," Edward said, making his way out the back door. "She's gone. Now let's get the hell out of here before the National Guard shows up."

-30-

**A/N Lots has changed, no? That was really fun. Thanks for reading, and thanks to MazzyStarla for the beta work and so much more. See you next time. :)**


	23. Chapter 23

Bella pulled a blanket from the closet and wrapped it around her shoulders. She shuffled back to the sofa and sat down, then pulled her feet up and shivered. Edward lost himself while he watched her breathing.

"I'm so sorry it's not working, Bella," Alice said. "We just never turned the heater on once Carlisle bought this place. There wasn't really a need."

Bella smiled. "It's OK, Alice. It's not that cold. I'll be fine."

Edward gripped the arms of the chair he was sitting in and gritted his teeth. This was bound to happen, he knew. Humans don't belong with vampires.

"I'll get firewood," he said. He got up and he glanced at Charlie, who was sitting across the room. "You gonna be OK?" He looked back and forth between the newborn vampire and his human daughter.

"I'm good," Charlie said. Edward wondered, briefly, about Charlie's sense of control. It was remarkable for a newborn. Not quite up to Carlisle's ability, but intriguing nonetheless.

He went out the back door. He had spent many summers in Alaska, though not this far north. Typically, he rented a place in Anchorage. But the Cullens had a cabin in the woods on the Denali preserve, far away from civilization. It's where Alice had taken them after the mess in Forks. Even here, though, they had to be careful. Both Charlie's and Bella's faces were broadcast to the world. They would forever be known. Charlie more so because of his brutal dismembering of Jane on live television.

Whatever happened now, there was no turning back. The world knew about vampires.

Edward trudged through overgrown brush and headed into the woods, gathering fallen branches almost without paying attention. Bella's problem was deeper than the weather, he knew. In the end, she would either have to be turned or left behind. A human was incapable of living the lifestyle of a vampire. They moved too slowly. They required food, shelter and sleep. And they got cold.

"Dammit," he said aloud. His arms full, he headed back to the cabin, still unsure what to do about Bella. He knew what she wanted, especially now that her father had been turned. The only men she'd ever loved were both vampires now. What reason was there for her to remain alive?

If only it were that easy, he thought. One day you're alive and the next you're a vampire with magical abilities and super-human strength. Put that way, who wouldn't want to join up?

What a crock of shit. No one ever mentioned the insatiable desire for blood, the need that never goes away, the unbearable weight on your conscience as you learn to become the very kind of killer you'd always hated so much.

Enough, he told himself.

He wrenched open the cabin door and dropped the firewood on the floor.

Bella sat alone on the sofa, still wrapped in blankets. Charlie and Alice were gone.

"Where are they?"

"They left to get Charlie some blood," Bella said.

"Alice should know better," Edward said as he quickly loaded the fireplace. He lit a piece of scrap paper with his Zippo and held it to the kindling. He gazed into the fire, not paying attention. The paper burned down to his fingers and the flame jumped onto his sleeve.

Bella laughed as she sat down beside him. "Maybe you can hug the warmth back into me," she said.

Edward looked at her, confused for a moment as the cuff of his sleeve continued to smolder.

"Dude," Bella said. She reached out and patted the flame quickly, putting it out. "What's wrong, Edward? And don't tell me it's just this stuff with Caius and the Volturi. There's more."

She snuggled up to him and picked at the frayed ends of his sleeve.

"Come on, Edward," she said. "Is it Charlie? Because that's not something you should worry about. He loves it, and we both know you didn't have a choice. You saved him. It was the only way."

"I saved him from nothing," Edward said. He pulled away from Bella and stood.

"Don't you get it? Charlie's a killer now. Because of me. He's just another one of my victims, Bella. Worse. Because now he'll go on to kill others. I became the monster I hated, and now I've created a new one."

Charlie and Alice walked back in the door, their eyes glowing golden.

"What's this about a monster?" Charlie said.

"Nothing," Edward said.

Charlie walked up to Edward and put a hand on his shoulder. "You saved me, son," he said. "Simple as that."

"Don't be a fool," Edward said. He turned away.

"I'm not kidding," Charlie said. "Edward. Look at me. Do I look like a monster to you?"

Edward turned back around and looked Charlie in the eye.

"I'm a new man," Charlie said. He smiled wide and rolled his neck around, flexed his arms, cracked his knuckles.

"I haven't felt this good in twenty years, Edward. And I'm smart. I mean, smarter than I ever was. I see everything, possibilities. Endless possibilities. It's like the whole world is a battlefield, and I'm planning an invasion. All the time. My mind won't stop."

He sat on the sofa, leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees. "When I went after Jane? Sure, I had the craving. All those humans out there. But it didn't make strategic sense for me to kill any of them. My sense of strategy overruled my hunger, Edward.

"I am in control of this like I've never been in control of anything in my life."

And there it was. Charlie's ability was apparently going to be an innate sense of logic, structure, planning. Edward thought about how he could use that. Caius was still out there. And so was the tattooed man. He wouldn't rest, none of them could, until they were both gone.

"They're coming."

It was Alice.

"What do you see?" Edward asked.

Alice put her fingers to her temples and closed her eyes. "It's an army, Edward. Newborns, by the looks of them. They've gone through Forks, torn the place up. Searched our cabin there."

She paused. Bit her bottom lip. "I can't see. Wait. They're heading toward Carlisle's place in Tahoe. But not all of them."

She gasped. "They're headed here, Edward. Half of them. At least a dozen newborns. They'll be here soon, I think."

Alice pulled her hand away from her face and whirled around, striking the kitchen counter with her fist. "God dammit!" she said. "When will it ever end? I can't do this anymore. I can't. Not without Jasper. I don't have it in me."

Edward started to say something, but Bella reached out and put a finger to his lips. She nodded at Charlie, who was approaching Alice from behind.

Charlie put a hand on Alice's shoulder and squeezed lightly. "I lost the love of my life, too," he said. Alice turned to look at him.

"Does it ever get easier?" she said.

"No," Charlie said. "But it doesn't get harder, either. Right now, Alice, is the worst it's going to get for you. These days are hard. But you have to focus. Understand? We have a job to do, and we can't do it without you."

Alice laid her head on Charlie's chest and wept, though she produced no tears. He put his hands on her back and whispered in her ear. "You're strong, Alice. You're a good soul." Alice lifted her head and Charlie reached out to tuck her hair behind her ear.

Alice smiled and looked at Bella. "No wonder you turned out so great." She smiled and looked up at Charlie. "Thank you."

Edward put his arm around Bella and pulled her close.

"We have to get out of here," he said. "We can't fight a dozen newborns. Not just three of us. And not with Bella here. It's too dangerous."

"Agreed," Charlie said.

"I'll go start the car, get it warmed up for Bella," Alice said. She ran out the door.

Charlie kicked the still burning logs from the fireplace. He picked up the largest one and tossed it into the kitchen. He kicked another on into the hallway and watched as the sparks trailed behind it while it skittered across the hardwood floor.

"Cover," he said.

Charlie grabbed Bella's hand and led her out to the car. Edward followed. He hadn't thought to set the place on fire, but he admitted that it was a good move. It would give them precious minutes should Caius's army show up soon.

Alice mashed the gas pedal to the floor as Edward slammed the back door closed. He checked to make sure Bella had her seat belt on, satisfied when he saw it fastened tightly.

"Where will we go?" Bella asked. It was a question that Edward, too, had been wondering. But a quick scan of Alice's mind showed go that she had no idea.

"I was thinking maybe Fairbanks," Alice said. "Unless someone has a better idea."

"That's a mistake," Charlie said.

"Oh, shit!" Alice screamed. She slammed on the brakes and the SUV fishtailed across the two-lane road. It came to an abrupt stop when it slammed into something hard. A newborn.

"They're here," Edward said.

The car came to rest in the middle of the road. Steam rose from its hood and the engine sputtered and died. Ticking sounds entered the cabin. It was the only thing anyone could hear, except for Bella's rapid breathing.

"We should get out of here. Run into the woods," Alice said. She reached for the door, but Charlie put a hand on her arm and stopped her.

"That's what they're expecting," he said.

"So what do we do? Just wait here for them to get us? There's a dozen of them, Charlie. We're sitting ducks."

Edward tried to scan Charlie's mind to see what he was thinking, but it was moving to fast. The thoughts were all jumbled together. It was like trying to read a book during a hurricane.

"What's going on, Charlie?" he asked.

Charlie smiled. "Follow my lead," he said. He opened the passenger door and walked around to the other side of the car and opened the back door there. He pulled Bella from the car more roughly than Edward would have liked and put his arm around her neck.

Edward quickly realized what Charlie was doing. He got out of his own door and hoped Alice would soon do the same. He was happy to see that she did. She positioned herself directly to Charlie's side, too, which meant that she understood.

"She's ours," Charlie called out, loud enough that any vampire within a quarter mile would hear him. He picked Bella up by the back of her neck and held her in the air, careful to support her weight with his other hand. "If any of you are brave enough to come take her," he said, pausing to look around, "then so be it.

"But I doubt you will. Newborns are weak. Stupid. Savages." He spat on the ground.

Alice looked at Edward, who was desperately trying to hide a smile. Charlie, he thought, you are fucking brilliant. He only hoped Bella understood what was going on.

There. To the left. He saw red eyes glowing. Edward braced himself. He moved slowly back toward the car, opening the driver's door carefully.

Charlie lowered Bella, but kept his grip right. He turned to his left, as if he were scanning the area, but quickly shifted to the right and tossed Bella into the open car door.

"Lock it," Edward said, slamming the door and charging toward the set of red eyes he'd seen. He slammed into the surprised newborn with the force of a semi truck, crushing its ribs and mashing it against a tree. Quickly, before the vamp had time to recover, Edward gripped both sides of the newborn's head and twisted. He heard a snap, then adjusted his grip so he could pull the boy's head off. When he was done, he tossed the head aside and ran back to the car.

Edward, Charlie and Alice surrounded the car. It was Bella the newborns wanted. And now, there would be a frenzy.

They fought off the attacks, one-by-one. The newborns, though powerful, weren't very organized. Edward found that Alice could see them coming, and he could read Alice's thoughts. It was like playing a football team whose quarterback told you what play they were going to run. It was too easy.

Which is why he wondered if he was missing something. Charlie was wondering it, too.

The last newborn attacked. Charlie dealt with it quickly, but then he paused. He held the car door closed, stopping Bella's exit. Edward looked at her. She was confused. "Let me out, Charlie!"

Charlie didn't answer. He stared into the woods. Everything was quiet. The sun hung low in the sky, turning it orange.

"Something's wrong," he said.

Edward listened closely. He heard the tick-tick of the car's engine cooling down. He heard Bella breathing behind the closed windows. He heard the buzz of insects in the woods and the wind flowing through the wings of a hawk in the sky, but nothing else. No animals foraging. No sounds at all.

Alice moved. "What do you see?" Charlie asked.

"Someone's here. Or almost here. But I can't see him. Or her. Or it. But something's coming."

Charlie held fast at the driver's side door, while Alice covered the passenger side. Edward jumped onto the hood of the car and stood, feet apart, arms calmly at his side. They must be ready, whatever happens.

Alice yelped. But before Edward could turn his head, she was already gone. He jumped from the hood and guarded the door, unsure what was going on.

Something hit him hard. He folded in half and collapsed. Whatever it was moved too quickly for him to see it. He was picked up from the ground and thrown into the air. He landed fifty yards away.

He jumped to his feet and ran back to the truck. The passenger door was gone. So were Bella and Charlie.

A trace of blood stained the steering wheel. Edward could smell it. Bella's blood.

He screamed, louder than he thought he was capable. He pounded his fists on the car's hood and he kept pounding until the hood collapsed and he felt the warm steel of the engine.

Unsatisfied, he put his fist into the fender and kicked the door and the rage overtook him and he began to beat the car with all his might. Glass exploded and air hissed from the tires. He embedded his fists into the hard steel and tore pieces of it away and flung them into the air, an abyss.

When he was spent, he looked at the damage he had wrought. Wherever he went, this is what happened. Lives were torn apart as surely as this SUV had been.

He smelled a fuel leak. Good, he thought. It will catch fire and it will consume me and the world will be without one more vampire. A killer will have been killed.

He closed his eyes and waited.

Tick tick went the engine.

Drip drip went the fuel.

A moment passed, and he knew. He had been a fool.

Bella was not dead; she was too valuable. Therefore, he had no choice in what to do next. He would find her and he would rescue her and he would bring a reign of terror down upon those responsible for what had happened tonight. For everything that had happened since a calm, cool afternoon on the shores of Lake Michigan one hundred and eight years ago.

Calmly, deliberately, Edward gathered the headless corpses of what had been Caius' newborn army. He put them into the destroyed SUV and he closed the doors, such as they were.

He pulled a cigarette from the pocket of his long black coat and he pulled his Zippo from the pocket of his jeans and he let the lighter do what it was designed to do.

He pulled a lungful of smoke and he let it bleed through his nose and he decided to do what must be done. He would do what a monster like him was supposed to do.

He lit the leaking gasoline on fire and he let his boots take him toward Fairbanks, an hour away.

By his reckoning, it would take two days to get to Italy. He would need to feed before he left.

-30-

**A/N Oh boy, Edward is pissed. This is gonna be fun. Thanks to Mazzy, who makes life better. 3**

**And thanks to all of you, especially. I'm having a blast. You might have heard that this little story won Fic of the Week over at The Lemonade Stand last week! Mazzy's Dress You Up took third. Y'all rock. **


	24. Chapter 24

The two shotguns wouldn't fit in the backpack Edward was using as a carry-on, so he'd broken the barrels off as cleanly as he could with his bare hands. He left the metal raw, all sharp edges and bare steel.

He'd stuffed the guns into the backpack with his black coat, a carton of Marlboros, and two boxes of armor-piercing ammunition, courtesy of a crooked pawn dealer on La Cienega Boulevard near LAX. In the end, everyone was crooked.

Edward had flown from Fairbanks to Seattle, and then to Los Angeles, without much trouble. The driver's license and leather jacket he'd stolen off a drunken thug outside a Fairbanks bar did the trick. He'd learned long ago that the more confidence a man projected, the less likely he was to be questioned.

But getting from L.A. to Rome would be different. He needed to bring the weapons if he had any chance of succeeding.

"Please step aside, sir."

The Transportation Security Agency guard put his hand on his holstered gun as he watched Edward's backpack go through the ex-ray scanner.

Edward quickly reached out and took the man by the neck. He pulled his bag from the conveyer belt with his other hand, slung it over his shoulder, and tossed the agent across the room.

He'd known he would be discovered. He didn't care.

Everyone scattered. He didn't care. He was through caring about anything except doing what he had to do to save Bella, Charlie and Alice.

Two guards waited for him at the gate, weapons drawn. They told him to stop or they would shoot. He didn't slow down.

One fired. The bullet skipped off Edward's shoulder and struck a wall. The other guard fired, but missed.

Edward sped up his pace. He read the pilot's mind. Alerted to the trouble, he was preparing to take off.

Edward barreled through the guards and ran down the ramp as it was being pulled away. He jumped from the end and latched onto the plane's door and wrenched it open.

Everyone screamed. He closed the door behind him and scanned for an air marshal. Good. None were on board. He didn't want to have to kill anyone. Yet.

Edward pushed a flight attendant aside and tore open the secure door to the cabin. The co-pilot reached out as if to stop him, but Edward pushed him back into his chair with enough force to knock the wind out of the man.

"Hold your course," he told the pilot. He pulled the man's ID from his pocket. "You'll land this plane in Rome, Captain Molina. You'll do it because you know what I am. You'll do it because if you don't I'll kill every passenger on this plane, and every crew member. And then I'll kill you and I'll drink your blood and I will go down as the plane crashes and I'll crawl from the wreckage and I'll find your family and I'll kill them, too.

"Do you understand me?"

The pilot pissed his pants and nodded.

Edward told the co-pilot to leave the cabin, and he took the man's seat.

Whoever had taken Bella, Charlie and Alice would have killed them in Alaska if that was the intention. No, Edward thought, they were being kept alive. He was certain it was the Volturi. No one else was capable.

He didn't want to think about what the Volturi might do to Bella, but he couldn't help himself. Caius had probably discovered the rare qualities of her blood, as Jane had. Edward imagined her tied down in a cell, transfusion equipment running from her veins. She would be used to create a super army. Humanity would not survive. He had to change her as soon as he found her. He knew that now.

"Excuse me, sir?" The pilot fidgeted and mumbled something. Twelve hours had passed quickly

"What do you want?" Edward said.

"It's just. Well, we'll be landing soon, and I thought you should know, Italian security forces are there. They'll greet us when we land, and they've grounded all flights out of Rome." He knew the pilot was telling the truth. He'd already known it.

"Just land the plane."

Edward stood and tightened the straps on his pack. He made sure to zip up the stolen leather jacket he was wearing, too. He left the cabin without a word, walked into the passenger area to be greeted by screams, and paused before opening the door.

"Make sure you've fastened your seat belts," he said. "It's going to get windy."

He peered out the nearest window. Good. The sun was rising and the plane was descending.

As it neared the runway, Edward ripped the door open. He gauged the distance and leapt from the plane when it was about a hundred feet off the ground.

He hit the pavement at more than a hundred miles an hour and curled himself into a ball. His body skidded across the pavement like a stone across a calm pond.

He jumped to his feet and surveyed the damage. He removed his backpack and tore off the destroyed coat. He put his long black coat back on, lit a cigarette, and slung the pack over his shoulder. He winced in pain, but it meant nothing. The wounds would heal.

Volterra was an hour away.

He ran as fast as he'd ever run before, choosing back roads instead of the main highway. The last thing he needed right now was dealing with a human police force.

He slowed as he neared the Volturi compound. He'd never been there, but any vampire who'd been around for more than a few years had heard about it. Surrounded by a twenty-foot-tall fence, guarded constantly, it was an impossible fortress.

He removed his pack and stuffed the cigarettes into his pockets. He loaded the sawed-off shotguns and held one in each hand as he watched the gate.

Up above, he spotted a member of the Volturi Guard in a tower. He scanned the guard's mind. As he'd suspected, they were on high alert but hadn't been told why.

He crept closer and hid in the trees. He deliberately shifted his weight to make noise.

"Who's there?"

The guard looked around, but couldn't spot Edward. He shifted his weight again. The guard spoke into his radio. "I've got a disturbance in sector three. Going to check it out."

He climbed down from his perch and opened the gate.

Edward jumped from the tree and blasted the guard's head off with one of the shotguns. He ran through the gate and spotted two more guards coming.

He brought both shotguns up at once and fired. Direct hits. He re-cocked the guns.

That's when all hell broke loose.

Vampires began streaming from every doorway, every window. He was lucky, though. He knew what each of them was thinking as they thought it. He carefully targeted vamps just as they were about to attack him. Without a leader in sight, he was able to pick off a dozen of them, one at a time.

He reloaded and opened the front door, unsure where to go. He didn't know where Bella was being held. He scanned the area, and he was able to find Alice. She was in a cell by herself, in the dark. It was damp, too, with moss forming on the stone walls.

They must be in the basement.

He hugged the wall as he made his way down a long hallway.

A hundred feet in, he came to a vast, open room. Hallways branched off in four directions. On the walls were portraits of the members of the Volturi Council.

He spat upon each of them. "How dare you," he whispered, "presume to tell me who I'm allowed to love."

He heard someone coming from the hallway to his left and he readied his guns.

Shit. It was an entire squad. He ducked around a corner, but it was too late. Someone had seen him.

He came out firing, taking down the squad leader and another vamp in front. More followed. He re-cocked and fired, re-cocked and fired. Vamp parts flew into the air and spattered the walls. He kept firing until the guns would fire no more, and then he swung them like tandem baseball bats.

He took down another vamp like that, but he was soon overwhelmed. A trio of Volturi Guard members pinned him to the ground. They flipped him over onto his stomach and the largest one dug his knees into Edward's back.

He gripped each side of Edward's head and began to twist. Edward felt the bones in his neck give way. They cracked one by one. He closed his eyes and readied himself for the inevitable. This was bound to happen. He knew that. Coming here alone was beyond stupid. It was desperate. But it was all he had. It was all he'd ever had.

A voice broke him away from his thoughts.

"Edward Masen, how nice to see you again."

The vampire holding him down released him, and Edward turned his head.

Caius.

Edward lunged, but firm hands held his shoulders.

Caius smiled and spoke to the hooded figure to his left. Edward couldn't make out the words, but he knew what Caius was saying anyway. He was giving instructions on where to take him.

More importantly, though, Edward wondered who the hooded figure was. Was he the one who'd taken Bella, Charlie and Alice?

"Be well, Eddie," Caius said. "Our time together has only just begun."

Edward gritted his teeth. "I look forward to it."

Edward tried to get a read on the hooded figure leading him through the complex, but it was as if nothing were there. He sensed no one under the hood.

By the figure's shape, he could tell it was a man. Beyond that, nothing. He was a blank slate.

The man led Edward down a long, dark hallway. When they came to a stairway, he pulled Edward's hands behind him and pushed him forward.

Charlie was up ahead. Edward could feel it.

The vampire led Edward to a hallway lined with cell doors. He stopped in front of the nearest one and opened the door. He shoved Edward inside and slammed the door closed, walking away without a word.

Edward scanned. He sensed Charlie, who was apparently busy devising an escape plan. He couldn't tell how close Charlie was, but he knew he couldn't be too far. The compound couldn't have all that many jail cells. He felt Alice, too, but she was daydreaming of a future that may or may not happen. How strange it must be, he thought, to see all of life's wondrous possibilities, only to realize they were beyond your control. How utterly depressing.

Someone was coming.

"What do you want?" he said as Caius approached.

"I have never seen anything like the situation you find yourself in," Caius said. "It is quite bizarre. One would think a vampire of your stature, with your abilities, would be savvy enough to have avoided such folly."

He paced back and forth as he spoke. Edward said nothing.

"Her father is quite resilient," Caius continued. "And remarkably in control, for a newborn. I must say, Eddie, you made a fine choice with that one. He'll make a good member of the new Council — once I break him. Given what he's showed me so far, that will be no easy task."

"What have you done to Charlie?" Edward snarled. He attacked the cell's bars, startling Caius, who took a step backward.

"You know," Caius said. "Your little girlfriend tastes divine. I hope you don't mind, but I couldn't help myself."

Edward gritted his teeth, but he said nothing. He wouldn't give the evil bastard the satisfaction.

"Don't worry," Caius said. "I have no intention of either turning her or killing her. She's far too valuable. It's been too long since I ran across a Shield."

Edward wrapped his long fingers around the bars of his cell and looked Caius directly in the eyes.

"You will die before you get another taste," he said. "Your turn is coming, Caius, and there is nothing you can do to stop it."

"Revenge, is it? I never knew you were so petty."

"Oh, make no mistake," Edward said. "It's not revenge I'm after. It's a reckoning."

-30-

**A/N Did you catch the Tombstone reference there at the end? Ha. Loved that movie. Thanks to everyone for your patience. I'll try real hard not to take so long again. Special thanks, as always, to MazzyStarla, the sexiest beta on the planet. **


	25. Chapter 25

"I never wanted to be what I am."

Edward put his back firmly against the concrete wall in his cell and slid down, pulling his knees up to his chest.

"You still with me, Charlie?" He lit a smoke, pulled hard on it.

"Still here, Edward. Where'm I gonna go? Besides, you were gonna show me the ropes. Newborn shit, you said. Keep my mind occupied. Given that I'm twitchin' over here, I could use a few tips."

"Tips. Don't have those, Charlie. All I have is a story."

"And all I got is time, son." Charlie grunted. "Distract me. Spin me a yarn."

Edward laughed. "After I was turned, my family dead, I knew, Charlie. I knew I was a killer."

He studied the ash at the tip of his cigarette. He flicked it away and watched as it tumbled to the floor and disappeared, a puff of gray.

"I ran. Had to get out of there. The death. The smell of all that blood. I was afraid. Afraid of what I'd become. Afraid of what I would do."

Somewhere far off, a steel door clanked. Someone screamed. Edward closed his eyes, shutting out the view of the mold-crusted prison walls, the heavy titanium bars, the dark hallway that led to nowhere. He crushed his butt against the wall and lit another.

"Thought I could hide from it. If I didn't face the truth, I wouldn't have to accept it." He laughed. "Little did I fucking know."

"Where'd you go, Edward?" Charlie said. He sounded winded. Out of breath. "This was Chicago, right? World War One in full swing. The roaring Twenties about to get underway. It's not like you could get away from people."

"By then," Edward said, "the munitions factories that had sprouted up around Chicago started closing down. The war, though far from over, was turning our way. We were going to win, it was clear.

"So I hid. Plenty of space to do it in. Those old factories. I told myself I'd never become like them. I'd never do what they had done to me. To my family. I thought about revenge, for a while. But I didn't have it in me, Charlie. Not then I didn't."

He flicked another spent smoke across his cell. Picked at his fingernails.

"Thought I'd kill myself." He laughed. "Tried cutting my veins open. They healed too quickly. Tried shooting myself, but armor-piercing ammo was a little tough to come by back then. Thought I could starve myself to death. Just refuse to feed, no matter the urge."

He was quiet then. Listened to the sounds of the Volturi prison. Far-off footsteps. Snippets of conversation.

"It wasn't too hard at first. No humans around, of course. Not in an abandoned factory. The rats. Fuckin' rats everywhere. I disgusted myself, the urges. Went so far as to catch one once. Killed it. Smelled that fuckin' rat blood, oozing down my hand. The smell, invading me. Taking over. Hadn't eaten in days. Not so much as a drop of blood since I'd been turned.

"Don't know how I did it, but I threw that fucking rat corpse through the window. Told myself then and there I was gonna starve, no matter what."

A member of the Volturi Guard came by. Strolled past Edward's cell door like a fucking robot. Edward read his mind, as he always did when they passed him by. But Caius wasn't stupid. The guard knew nothing.

"Boy," he heard Charlie call out. The guard's feet stopped moving. "We ain't been fed since we got in here two days ago," Charlie said. "Why don't you see if you can do something about that."

The guard walked off without a word.

"No offense, Charlie," Edward said. "I know you must be starving, being a newborn and all. I've been there. But I wouldn't touch whatever they bring. There's no telling where it might come from." He was thinking about Bella, probably strapped down to a table somewhere, her veins tapped, draining her life away. All so Caius could build an army.

"Yeah, I know that. I have an idea, is all. Now, you were telling me a story. I want to hear the rest of it, if you find yourself capable of telling it."

Edward lit another smoke. He was disheartened to see that he was more than halfway through his last pack.

"Days went by. A week, maybe. I don't know. I think it would have worked, starving myself. I was getting weaker by the day. Got so bad I couldn't even chase the rats away. They chewed through my clothes. One even tried feeding on my flesh, but that didn't work out too well for the creature. Seized and collapsed, dead, right on the spot. Even the other rats wouldn't feed on its corpse.

"At first, when the two humans broke in, I thought I was hallucinating. I had been already. Visions of my mother, doing laundry on that lake shore."

He closed his eyes tightly, bit into his lower lip until it hurt.

"They thought I was dead, and I suppose I must have been pretty close by then. Kicked me. Felt for a pulse. Rifled through my pockets. And I let them, Charlie. I let them treat me like an object because that's what I thought I was."

He stood. Pounded a fist into the wall.

"We're not getting out of here, Charlie. We both know that."

"You don't know shit, Edward. Quit your fucking whining and finish the story." He was screaming now, sounded desperate.

Edward winced. "There's no point. What's it matter whether you learn what it's like to be a newborn or not? You're not gonna get a chance. They're going to bleed Bella dry, and then they're gonna kill us. You know the only reason we're still alive is so they can use us as leverage. Force her to comply."

"God dammit, Edward. Get ahold of yourself. You're the toughest man I've ever known. Don't you get that? Special forces, a career on the force. Those people have nothing on you, because the only enemy they ever faced was out there, outside themselves.

"But you? You've been fighting the demon inside you every day, every single fucking day, for almost a hundred years. And you're winning."

"That's bullshit and you know it, Charlie. Take your happy talk and get the fuck out of here. You ain't no shrink, and I ain't your patient."

The two men stewed in silence for a while.

"I can hear what you're thinking, Charlie."

"Good."

Edward sighed. "You wanna hear the rest? Before we get started?"

"You heard what I was thinking, dumbass."

Edward laughed. "I'd rip your head off if it weren't for these bars, you know that?"

"Like to see you try, boy."

Edward lit another smoke. Peered into the pack. Six left.

"I killed them both, of course, bled them dry. Two thugs. They'd made their way across the southland, mugging and killing. Been doing it for years by the time they found me. It felt good, Charlie. And I don't just mean the blood. That made me strong. Stronger, faster than I'd ever been before. Than I'd ever imagined I could be.

"But I mean the killing itself. It felt really, really good. I was in my natural element for the first time in my life."

"You couldn't help that, Edward. It's not your fault."

Another guard approached, walked by without a word. That was the second in the last hour. Activity was picking up. Predictably, the guard's thoughts revealed nothing.

"So I worked out a plan, after that. I'd kill only bad people. It should be easy, I figured. I can read thoughts. I'd find people with wicked thoughts, kill them, drink their blood, move on. It was a way of satisfying the urge, but satiating my conscience."

"Pie in the sky, wasn't it?" Charlie said. "Turns out, we all have wicked thoughts."

Edward smoked another. Five left. "Yeah." He sighed. "People are fucked up. All of 'em. So I gave up trying. I figured if everyone's bad, why bother picking and choosing.

"I killed whomever I wanted from then on, whenever and however I wanted. Had to lay low, of course. It's not like the Volturi would give me a pass.

"But I enjoyed it. Came to see the killing as my punishment. For failing to kill myself. For killing those two men in the factory. For being unable to protect my family. I became a monster."

Charlie grunted. "I've seen my share of monsters," he said. "Every one of them a human. You ain't no monster, Edward. Wouldn't let you near my kid if I thought you were."

"Like to see you try to stop me."

"The fuck you would."

Edward flicked another butt against the wall. Watched it burst, sparks flying, drifting to the floor like spent fireworks.

"You gotta get out of here, Charlie. You don't sound good."

"You ain't my dad." Charlie coughed. Kept going. Sounded like he was hacking up a lung.

"Fuck!" He screamed. He flew into a rage then, one Edward was glad he couldn't see from his cell. It sounded like Charlie was ripping the cell apart, bolt-by-bolt.

Concrete splintered, sending dust into the hallway. Steel clanged against steel. The force shook dust from the ceiling, shook the bars of Edward's cell.

"Guard!" Edward yelled.

Charlie kept pounding. Boom! Boom! Edward wasn't sure if this was Charlie's plan out into action or something else. Something worse.

He sensed someone coming. He hoped that whoever it was would listen. Would get Charlie help, would get him blood, before it was too late.

"Don't worry, Edward," Charlie whispered. "I know what I'm doing."

A trio of guards showed up. Charlie kept pounding. Boom!

Backup arrived. A dozen guards in all, including the hooded figure who'd led them into these cells in the first place. Still, Edward could not get a read on the man.

The hooded vamp nodded, and one of the guards keyed Charlie's cell door open.

Charlie attacked. Edward heard it all, helpless. The growling. The screaming. A headless corpse flew past his cell door. Another. Charlie was killing them one by one.

The hooded vampire stayed still, arms folded, face shrouded in darkness. He watched Edward only. Never turning his head toward the chaos.

Charlie grunted. The sound of bones snapping. Visceral screaming. A cry of rage like none Edward had ever heard before.

The hooded vamp spoke. "Take him to the hole. And throw the seeing one in there with him. Tell her if she can't control him, we'll kill them all."

He came for Edward next.

-30-

**A/N Thanks for reading, and thanks to MazzyStarla for her beta work, and so much more.**

**Did y'all hear the news? My entry in the Make Me Laugh contest, Magically Delicious, took third place in the judges' vote. Woohoo! I've posted it to my ffn page. Check it out.**


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